Incursio

The plight of bikes or pedestrians in East Memphis

2011-09-15T14:55:00.002-05:00

East Memphis (White Station area) and Germantown are supposed to be real nice areas, at least that what the real-estate agents say. So in a followup to my post yesterday about the Wolf River Greenway and it's problems with access and connectivity, I thought I might share a couple images.

Read more »

Wolf River Greenway - my thoughts

2011-09-14T16:54:00.000-05:00

Out in east Memphis and northwest Germantown they have some greenway bike+ped paths along the Wolf River, called the Wolf River Greenway. It is pretty nice, and I have ridden my bicycle along it's entirety. It is still somewhat in two main sections, the Memphis section in the west and the Germantown section in the east. The ultimate plans are to have them all linked together and connected to some other areas as well, although those plans seem like they might be a while to completion (if ever).

My thoughts on the Wolf River Greenway are mixed.

Read more »

Great Memphis hardware store for nuts and bolts

2011-08-29T14:34:00.000-05:00

Memphis area folks, if you are in need of some hardware help - you should check out the super friendly folks at Gate City hardware.

I needed some chrome whatnots and doo-dads for my motorcycle, and these sorts of things are tough to come by in a retail fashion. Sure you can order anything online - but that won't help you if you need to experiment.

Read more »

Perils of relocating to Tennessee: DMV (etc...)

2011-08-11T12:33:00.000-05:00

For those of you thinking on relocating to Tennessee be forewarned that Tennessee does not have a "Department of Motor Vehicles" per say.

They have a Drivers Services division of the Tennessee Department of Safety. This is where you get your Tennessee drivers license.

Each county (Tennessee has 95 of them) has a County Clerk. That is where you register your vehicles.

The state also has a Department of Revenue division which is where you have to go to get a temporary tag for a vehicle if for any reason there is a problem with any paperwork when you try to title or register a vehicle.

Some cities and jurisdictions in the state have vehicle inspections, which can be either emissions testing or safety inspections, or both. This testing varies by jurisdiction, which could be a city or a county. Testing requirements also vary by jurisdiction (some times by neighborhood within the jurisdiction) regarding which vehicles need which inspections.

Oh, OK. BUT NONE OF THEM ARE LOCATED IN THE SAME LOCATION.

Read more »

Messing up that which is already crap - Southern Accents

2011-08-09T13:09:00.000-05:00

Today, Jen Simmons, a member of the blogroll over at The Memphis Blog has a post up complaining about actors southern accents in movies and TV. Well, actually the post is sort of complaining while referencing another article which is complaining because as bloggers we only write three words of actual content for every 1000 words we link to... That is just how the blogosphere spins baby...

So what the hell am I blathering about? I am going to comment on one specific sentence:

"I'm almost always offended by terrible fake Southern accents in movies and TV."

You know what? I am almost always offended by terrible real Southern accents in real life.

Read more »

Memphis corrugated recycling failure

2011-08-08T14:39:00.000-05:00

All right, maybe not a "failure" - more like a deficiency. However sensationalist headlines draw in more readers, and since you may be my only one - I need all the help I can get.

Memphis seems to have OK recycling programs for a city in this region, although still not that great in general. One thing that I found frustrating is the requirement to cut down corrugated.

Read more »

Vancouver drivers in Portland

2011-04-27T19:50:00.000-05:00

It has been too long since I posted, so I will kick off my return with this helpful Venn diagram I created today after walking to and from my office:

Recovery dollars per capita - by state

2010-11-30T11:19:00.000-06:00

I decided to break down the ARRA dollars by state on a per-capita basis.

Sources:
Census.gov
Recovery.gov

iPhone iOS4 passcode lock workaround if you can't run iPhone config utility

2010-08-06T17:39:00.000-05:00

In iOS 4 and 4.0.1, if you perform a "reset all settings" on your phone it can sometimes cause you to lose all your options in the "passcode lock" section of the phone settings, only leaving you with the "immediately" option.

This can be annoying as you will then have to enter your passcode immediately when your phone locks for any reason. I usually like mine set to a 15 minute delay so that I can use my phone frequently without typing in the passcode, but it still locks after a while.

This is a known bug, and should be fixed soon in an upcoming iOS version. Until then there are two workarounds.

Read more »

Hey, you there in the Suburbs...

2010-07-15T11:41:00.001-05:00

I recognize that you only drive into "the city" to work or go to a special event. No big deal. But "the city" is also a neighborhood. I live in "the city", so do my family and pets. So when you come in to "the city" and drive like a jackass on your way to work - you put me and my family in danger. I'll tell you what. When you drive in to work in "the city" slow down a little, watch for crosswalks and children and pets. And I won't drive out to the burbs and haul ass around your neighborhood. I would be really angry if you killed my child while they were walking to the bus - just because you were frustrated that you and all your suburban friends clogged up the freeways with single occupancy vehicles - and you decided to take a short cut through "the city" at high rates of speed. Just because the buildings are taller than three stories doesn't mean people don't live here. Respect my neighborhood and I will respect yours.

This Means War

2010-07-13T11:40:00.001-05:00

Office Politics reach new lows.

IPhone 4 works just fine as a phone

2010-07-13T11:22:00.001-05:00

I have no antenna problems with my iPhone 4. It works just fine, even as a phone. So does my wife's. The media frenzy seems like they just had to find *something* because Apple is selling every iPhone 4 they can make. My evidence is anecdotal at best, but the several people I know with iPhone 4 are very happy with them.

iPhone 4 GPS spot on

2010-06-28T13:58:00.001-05:00

I was sitting about three feet to the NE of where the iPhone 4 GPS pegged me.

If you are on AT&T mobile - send a MMS tomorrow 9/25 at 5pm

2009-09-24T12:37:00.001-05:00

http://macenstein.com/default/2009/09/lets-all-send-a-mms-video-at-5pm-friday-and-see-what-happens/

Wheel chair happy on TriMet

2009-08-04T18:22:00.001-05:00

Why is it that some times it seems like every wheel chair in the city rides my bus?
Not that I mind wheelchairs on fixed route service - in fact quite the opposite. Every ride that we can move from "Lift" paratransit service to normal fixed route service saves taxpayers over $30.
But every time my bus gets hit with a ramp deployment it means another minute.
Maybe I just notice it more. Or maybe I am riding the short bus and never noticed until now...

Summer summer summertime!

2009-07-02T15:54:00.001-05:00

"the way that people respond to summer madness"
Keller fountain, Portland, Oregon.
"there's an air of love and of happiness and this is the Fresh Prince's new definition of summer madness. Summer summer summertime. Time to sit back and unwind."

Apple says I can't do this!

2009-07-01T17:08:00.001-05:00

Look, I am using Apple's MMS on my iPhone 2G!

And posting to Blogger via MMS. Using the 1st generation iPhone (2G) I bought almost two years ago, runnng iPhone OS 3.0. Apple claims the 1st gen iPhone (2G) has a hardware limitation that prevents MMS. Except, uhm, it doesn't.
Google "ActivateMMS2G" if you are interested.Look, I am using Apple's MMS on my iPhone 2G!

First ride on MAX Green Line

2009-06-30T15:34:00.000-05:00

First ride on MAX green line.Green means Go!

Transformers 2

2009-06-25T22:54:00.001-05:00

Megan Fox?: CHECK
Transformers?: CHECK
Plot?: CHECK

Ooooh, I'm going to have to go to the judges on that one. Judges?

Yes, By a 4 to 3 vote, we do have a plot.

Crass and juvenile humor which adds nothing to the movie yet cheapens the entire experience?: CHECK

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is an OK movie. Not great. And this is coming from me... If there was anyone who was willing to take a hit for the Transformer team - it's me. But I would say, save your money and watch it second run or on DVD.

Wait, it has lots of Megan Fox. Who am I kidding, it was worth twice what I paid. AND it has Transformers. So I guess even the stupid fart joke humor can't ruin it all that much.

But I question the need for it. And once you see the movie, you'll know what I am talking about. I don't do spoilers. (Although I still can't believe they killed Sam, I wonder what they'll do for #3...)

But the stupid juvenile humor... Look, the movie already has hot girls, transforming robot cars, trucks, and airplanes, and lots of explosions. You already have locked in the boys and men. Why add the stupid dick jokes? The only thing that it does is lose the female audience, who now willl have absolutely NO desire to see Transformers 3.

Come on, there are some things in life that need to be sacred. Transformers should be one of them...

I give it a 3 out of 5.

The World.

2009-06-16T17:50:00.000-05:00

The "residential" cruise ship: "The World", is docked again in Downtown Portland. It has been maybe 5 years since the last time it was around.
I am sure that a hundred people and sites will be posting more and better pictures, or more in depth information.
But here are a few quick snapshots...

No Pictures Fail

2009-06-07T17:15:00.000-05:00

Taken at the Portland Rose Festival "waterfront village".
"No photos of our [crappy] display allowed"
Editorial comments added by me... I can only guess either they are scared that I will copy their business model, or that Disney will find out they are using Disney materials. Either way it was fun to take pictures of their "no pictures" signs.

A beautiful Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-22T12:06:00.000-05:00

In this wonderfully beautiful Portland weekend, have a great time!
Let's all remember that Memorial Day is about remembering the almost 1.5 million American Servicemen who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our great country.
These beautiful images of our wonderful city would not be possible without them.
Thank you to every soldier who has given their lives. May we "earn" what you have given us.

Electric Car Parking fail.

2009-05-20T14:50:00.000-05:00

Unless GMC is sneaking out plug-in Yukons, this person needs a ticket and reading lessons...

Bike and Buggy rentals come to Portland waterfront.

2009-05-16T20:30:00.000-05:00

Kerr Bike rentals is now operating on the Willamette River, in downtown Portland. They are located at the west end of the Hawthorne bridge, at the Salmon Street Springs fountain.
They rent surreys (pictured), bicycles, quad sport bikes, tandem bikes, kids bikes, and a variety of other pedal power contraptions.
Prices range $6 to $30 hourly, and some items rentable by the day.
Their phone is (503) 808-9955 and their website is http://www.kerrbikes.org
Looks Fun!

100% of marriages end.

2009-05-16T19:13:00.000-05:00

Whoever They are, they know a lot. And They say that 50% of marriages end in divorce.

Sounds depressing right? Well, how do the other 50% of marriages end? I guess you can't really count annulment since that realistically means the marriage never happened, and is probably counted in the "divorce" category anyway.

So if 50% of marriages end in divorce, the only other way to end a marriage is, I guess, death.

So in other words: 100% of marriages end.

Why is the 50% statistic so odd? Well, for one - people who speak poorly of divorce feel that it is better for a marriage to end with death. I for one, think that is fairly morbid. But when is the magic timeframe where a death signifies a successful marriage, a "non-divorce"?

For example, my marriage ended in divorce after 15 years. So we are in that "failed marriage" category. But if I had died three months ago, our marriage would have been considered a "success" even though the reality is that three months later there would have been a divorce.

So for two people who are married for 25 years but just grow apart - they are a failure. But a marriage which ends after a year due to death is considered a success - even if we don't know what would have happened.

How long does a marriage have to be to not be a failure, and why is death the only non failing way out?

Screwed for being Responsible

2009-04-14T10:22:00.000-05:00

My wife and I have never missed a payment on any debt in over 16 years. Not one.

A bit over a year ago, we refinanced our home, lowered our rates and paid off some of our other debt. We were conservative - financing less than 80% of the value of our home. We have NEVER taken one of the crazy risky loans. Every mortgage we have had for over 10 years has been a conventional regular old fashioned pay down the principle fixed rate loan. No sub-prime crap, no baloon payments, no 115% of value LOC, no 30-due-in-15 or any other tricky fancy loans. Just normal stuff.

This week, we decided to try and take advantage of the low interest rates, and save a couple percent. Additionally there are supposed to be some government benefits for loan companies to help people who are in good standing refinance that we were hoping to utilize.

We called to refinance our home, and found out this:

Read more »

Have we got a bridge to sell you!

2009-03-19T22:08:00.000-05:00

Only 1 million payments of $4000 each!

Walk: OHSU to Gabriel Park

2009-02-25T21:58:00.000-06:00

Today after work I wanted to walk a bit. Since I needed to be at Gabriel Park this evening I figured I would give it a shot. I cheated a little by taking the streetcar down to South Waterfront, and riding the Tram up to OHSU. Which was pretty cool in and of itself, as winds were around 50mph and the car was swinging...

Read more »

Taking back the streets.

2009-02-18T10:34:00.000-06:00

From a recent article in New York Magazine:

New York’s streets are getting new ownership. Lane by lane, curb cut by parking space, in steps so scattered and incremental that they hardly get noticed, people on foot are wresting control of the asphalt from those behind the wheel.

and

the basic unit of urban life: the street. There, lifestyles intersect and city dwellers co-exist with people different from themselves. It’s where we learn toleration, where leisure shares space with urgency, commerce with activism, baby carriages with handcarts. When it is narrowed by garbage or overwhelmed by traffic, then the street reverts to its most primitive use: as a corridor. But a truly public place allows people to move at many different paces, or not to move at all.

The article talks about Robert Moses. Who was Robert Moses? He was an extremely powerful developer and politician for four decades in New York City. BikePortland has an interesting article and subsequent discussion about the Portland that was "designed" based on Moses' vision and strategy. More information can be found at PortlandOnline.

"Cities are for traffic"
-Robert Moses

OHSU Tram: A valuable link in Portland's Bike Network

2009-02-04T22:27:00.001-06:00

I have been involved in many discussions held in many forums about the Portland OHSU Aerial Tram. Now, all controversy aside - one common opinion that I hear frequently concerns me. Often, the Tram will be disregarded as a valuable link in Portland's bike network.
To all who would say that the Tram does not provide a valuable connection or link for bicyclists, I would suggest heading down to the base of the Tram and look around. I did.
Read more »

RFID is not secure. I repeat: NOT SECURE.

2009-01-04T16:21:00.000-06:00

I don't care how much the "industry" tries to tell you that RFID in things like credit cards, passports, or IDs is OK - it is not. RFID is not (by design) secure, and never will be.

The companies and lawyers can lie and lie and lie - and most of the population seems to believe them - but RFID systems can be hacked easily, and are hacked regularly.

Don't trust RFID.

Here I am linking to another blog post, simply because it is easier than reciting the entire story here... But the credit card companies don't want you to know that RFID is insecure. They badly don't want you to know, so much so they bullied Mythbusters into not airing it in an episode.

Mythbusters gagged by credit card companies over RFID episode

Now, I know I am just a "dude on the internet" and have no real authority. So if you don't want to believe a couple of bloggers, I suggest you Google around a bit and find out for yourself.

Just don't whine when something bad happens due to a RFID vulnerability. The very nature of RFID makes it insecure. Don't trust it.

Oregon. . .

2008-12-31T23:49:00.001-06:00

More Mac GPS goodness: Lots of resources!

2008-12-31T09:58:00.000-06:00

In my previous post about Topographical maps, and other Macintosh GPS utilities - I completely forgot to mention one that is a great tool.

Load My Tracks.

Using Load My Tracks I can pull my GPS tracks right off my device and save them for use by other applications: GPX files, even KML for use with Google Earth. Load My Tracks supports geocaching and a pretty good range of devices.

But while looking into Load My Tracks, I also found some more resources:

Here is a list of GPX resources. It is a pretty good list, and covers multiple platforms (Windows, Macintosh, Mobile, and cross-platform).

Some other applications that I have not tried, but I am including here in case they might be something you can use:

GPS Connect: A Freeware Garmin GPS Connection Tool for Mac OS X.

Mac SimpleGPS: a Macintosh application designed to manage waypoints, routes and tracks on your GPSR.

Between these links, and my previous post, you should have more than enough to get you started with however you would like to use your GPS device with Macintosh computers.

Free Topographical Maps for all - and some Mac OSX GPS resources

2008-12-26T13:11:00.000-06:00

Since the holidays might have brought someone some GPS type toys, I figured that I would recycle an older post of mine to share some information, and also add to it some new stuff I have found.

The Libre Maps project has purchased and made available for free all of the USGS Topographical maps of the USA. All 50 states.

The maps have always been free sort-of, there was just no where until now to actually GET them for free. The Libre Maps project raised enough funds to buy the many gigabytes of data and the Internet Archive is hosting them.

These are great 24k scale topographical maps folks. The same types you pay for in sporting goods stores. And many applications on your computers can work directly with them and your GPS. You can get water and tear resistant paper and print them out..

All good stuff...

For the lazy in the audience, here are Oregon's.

I use Apple Macintosh computers, and here are some tools I have found:

A commercial software package which is very powerful is MacGPS Pro. I have used it for land and marine based GPS mapping and charts. I consider it to be worth the money. It is not the simplest or most intuitive program, but it is very powerful and is loaded with features. It can import and use the topographical maps I mentioned above, and supports a fair amount of GPS devices.

TrailRunner is a neat application package that can be used for running, biking, hiking, and I plan on using it for Skiing too. It is "donation-ware" and looks to be quite a slick package. As I have not used it much, I am simply including it here as a reference. I hope to know more about it in a few weeks after I have played with it more.

GPS Babel is software that runs on just about any operating system, and is free. It will load and translate GPS data to and from many many many devices. Definitely worth checking out, and probably deserves a donation if it works out to be useful to you.

And if you are looking for street mapping on your Mac, and you want something available offline or other features, you can check out Route Buddy. The app is $100 and the maps are extra. I have not used it. But I figured I would include it for completeness. I figure this is similar to Microsoft Streets, or DeLorme Street Atlas, (or like the now abandoned mac app called Route66...).

Things on the interwebs everyone should see.

2008-12-11T22:23:00.000-06:00

Timesink alert.

Charlie Bit Me

Blood!

Ninja Cat

And WEEEEEEEE! (contains profanity - NSFW)

I like turtles!

Truly Priceless! (Adult content)

Lookin' Ass Kitty (uhmmm, they say Ass a lot, PG-13 content)

The best part of waking up! (adult content, NSFW)

Where the hell is Matt?

The magic is in the hole! (adult content, Portland lore)

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger!

Using Proper English (Profanity, Adult Content, NSFW)

Sad Kermit (PG-13)

Blitz Ladd: Great sports bar in inner SE Portland

2008-12-11T21:52:00.001-06:00

Previously I have written about trying to find good sports bars in Portland that allow people under 21. First post, Second post. For crying out loud, people under 21 like to watch sports too!

We have found another one in inner SE Portland to add to the list.

Read more »

Citizens rise up! Take back the law!

2008-12-10T23:36:00.000-06:00

I am not the first to blog this stuff, but I figured that I would pass them on.

Here in Portland, we have one man (Eric Bryant, now complete with target on back!) who insists that the Police should be required to follow the same rules that they would happily enforce against us. I happen to agree with him.

Downtown Cop gets another ticket.

Read more »

There is no help for human kind.

2008-11-28T21:49:00.000-06:00

No matter how many glimmers of hope you might find, no matter how many bright minds are found, no matter how many nobel prizes we give out, no matter what we do - Humans are doomed.

I have always held just a little bit of pessimism about Humankind's ability to survive long-term. Especially this last 200 years we have seemed to paint ourselves into a corner again and again.

It is especially hard for me to think this way because I have a child which I dearly love, and it pains me so that the world that I leave behind will be one which will not be worth passing on.

Oh sure, you may say that I am just down. You may say that I am just feeling the Holiday blues, or that I am ignoring all the good things...

the doors shattered, and the shrieking mob surged through in a blind rush for holiday bargains.

Sure, we have done some amazing things. Sure there have been wonderful people who are amazing, and sometimes we might see glimmers of hope here and there. Glimmers of hope? Or just popping sparks from a dying hearth?

Some shoppers who had seen the stampede said they were shocked. One of them, Kimberly Cribbs of Queens, said the crowd had acted like “savages.” Shoppers behaved badly even as the store was being cleared, she recalled.

“When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, ‘I’ve been on line since yesterday morning,’ ” Ms. Cribbs told The Associated Press. “They kept shopping.”

A man is trampled to death by a mob of 2000 trying to get a good deal at WAL-MART.
There is absolutely no help for human kind. We are doomed.

insEyed out

2008-11-14T19:48:00.001-06:00

These are photos of the inside of my eyes, the back wall of my eyes. This one is a little dark because my pupil was closed a bit. But it still came out OK.

This one came out better, my pupil for this eye had opened a bit more.

I think these are really cool. Thanks to the fine folks at Moreland Vision Center in SE Portland.

The Tragedy of American Fitness

2008-11-09T21:00:00.000-06:00

I find it funny that people drive to the gym. People get in their cars and drive to the gym so they can walk or run on a treadmill, or ride on a stationary bicycle.

Oregon Voters - Too Late To Mail Ballots

2008-10-31T20:42:00.000-05:00

Hey Oregon Voters,

The time has come and passed. If you mail your ballot in now - it won't make it by the deadline.

Instead drop them off by hand, at a ballot drop site:

Multnomah County

Washington County

Clackamas County

Links to all the other county elections offices

As of today, we have about 48% of Oregon registered voters have returned their ballots. Obviously that does not include any that are currently working their way through the mail. And we have 4 full days left to drop off ballots by hand.

Please vote, and Please drop your ballot off by hand, DO NOT MAIL IT! I repeat, today was the last day it could be mailed. Starting now they have to be dropped off by hand.

Oregonian: We can't endorse things that are successful and popular!

2008-09-21T02:30:00.001-05:00

The Oregonian (newspaper) has decided that it cannot endorse the assisted suicide initiative that Washington voters will be deciding on this November (WA Initiative 1000).

Despite the fact Oregon's law has been successful:

Ten years' experience with Oregon's one-of-a-kind Death With Dignity Act has shown that our deepest concerns were unfounded. Safeguards built into the law appear to be working.

On the plus side, the law has not created a tidal wave of assisted suicide since its enactment in 1997. Only 341 patients, 86 percent of them with terminal cancer, have died under its provisions. More than a third of those who have obtained lethal prescriptions never used them.

Despite the fact that Oregon's law has been popular:

It's also true that the law is popular, twice winning voter approval, and that vigorous public debate over it has led to much-improved end-of-life care in Oregon. The state is recognized today as the national leader in providing access to palliative medicine and pain treatment.

The Oregonian choses not to endorse the Washington initiative:

Still, even though Washington's initiative closely parallels Oregon's law, we won't be endorsing it.

Makes perfect sense.

Aid in dying, Oregon-style
"The Oregonian": Sunday, September 21, 2008

Now is the time for all good men to recycle their plastic...

2008-09-21T01:56:00.001-05:00

I have written in the past about how much plastic we consume, and throw away - and the permanent nature of plastics. ( Every bit of plastic ever made still exists.)

Almost 90 percent of floating marine debris is plastic.

Plastic and other trash in our oceans is estimated to be killing more than a million sea birds and 100,000 mammals and turtles each year according to United Nations reports

Curbside recycling in Portland, and the metro area is pretty good. We do a good share better than many other cities of the United States, that is for sure. But there is a huge amount of plastics that we can't recycle at the curb - and it always pains me to throw them in the trash. We can do better!

I just found this tidbit, you can recycle all sorts of plastic that they don't pick up at the curb!

Check out the Plastic Roundup, coming in October (and is actually a fairly regular event).

Start saving up all those plastics that you normally throw away, and give them new life! Don't let them waste away in the great Pacific garbage patch.

We hate traffic more than we value sleep.

2008-09-21T01:46:00.001-05:00

On Thursday night this last week, I had to drive into Tigard and Beaverton (two cities on Portland's west side) during the night time. I was amazed to see that a major construction project on Oleson Rd. was running during the night!

Oleson Rd. is a very valuable connector in the hilly southwest part of the metro area. It has been undergoing a redesign and repaving project for what seems like forever. But it runs almost 100% through residential neighborhoods. There is almost zero non-residential property actually on Oleson.

But Sunday through Thursday nights, they are working through the nights on the road. With bright lights and loud equipment. Many, probably hundreds, of homes are within mere feet of the road construction. As they widened the road, the yards of these homes shrunk considerably. Lots of the homes are now within one dog-leash of the new sidewalks. And there are significantly more homes in close proximity.

So apparently those communities would rather not sleep - than have extra road construction delays during the day.

Tell me that the car is not king...

If they tried to do a 24hour a day road construction project next to my house, I think I would polish up on my Edward Abbey reading...

Don't surveil us surveilling you.

2008-08-10T17:32:00.000-05:00

This is in the entryway to the locker rooms at the Mt. Scott pool in Portland.I found it a tad funny. Your mileage may vary.

Live from Crüe Fest: Portland! (with updates)

2008-08-09T19:39:00.000-05:00

We just wrapped up the first band of 5 that are playing Crüe Fest 2008. Trapt just finished a short set. Trapt rocks, we have at least one of their disks... Sixx AM is getting ready to start.

Trapt was great, and they promised to return to Portland in a few months.

We have the "cheap seats", all the way in the back of the Rose Garden arena, about half way up. For Trapt, the area around us was largely empty. Except of course for the one guy directly in front of us with only one brain cell. I seriously want to tell him that the band can't see him and the band can't hear him and no one likes his bonehead attempt at stadium seat head banging and moshing. F'ing loser, blocking my view.So far the crowd seems really really diverse. I am excited to see Papa Roach and Buckcherry, and really excited to see the Crüe. It has been 10 years since we saw Motley Crüe at the Schnitzer. And I really like their new album.

Well, hopefully the asshole in front of me doesn't block the entire show...

Oh yeah, I thought I would mention that all of the TShirts are available online and are cheaper than they are here.... We just looked them up... The free WiFi at the Rose Garden is really helpful...

Update:
Sixx:AM was ok. They are my least favorite of the five. But they were OK.

Papa Roach was awesome. I have seen them a couple other times. They really know how to entertain. They rocked seriously...

I snapped a couple pics of the idiot:
that I will upload later
. Notice his crappy homemade tattoo that says "Pot" and some other unreadable stuff... The best part was during Papa Roach he shouted "why don't you come closer so I can smoke some god damn pot". Just now during the break he shouted "I hope something breaks in my head and goes off in here. I want to know why I do what I do.". He shouted that. I have no idea what the hell he is on.

One guy came and sat in our row, so drunk he couldn't stand. Luckily he left before he could ralph on me...

Buckcherry is up next...

Update:
Buckcherry sucked. No other way to put it. Very dissapointing. I really like their music but their live performance is terrible. Lead singer Josh Todd couldn't work a crowd to save his life. He was so stuck on himself and the band tried to pull off sort of a jam session type act during "Crazy Bitch" which just didn't work at all. But their biggest problem was they just are terrible at engaging the crowd and making a connection... They should take some lessons from Papa Roach.

Now waiting for the Crüe.....

Final Update:
Motley Crüe put on a great show. The band is showing their age a bit, which was most aparant in their crowd working. They just seemed a little tired. The show was EPIC. Explosions. Fireworks. Crazy lights. Video. Porn. Alcohol. Everything that you would imagine when you think Motley Crüe. Although, their encore was a little bit of a letdown, they only played "Home Sweet Home".

All in all, this was a great show, even though Buckcherry was a disappointment.

Easy Pickings - Cop sets a speed trap

2008-07-24T22:12:00.000-05:00

A Portland Police officer sitting on the SE 9th Ave Pedestrian overpass clocks people coming off the Ross Island Bridge onto SE Powell Blvd.
There were about 6 officers waiting down on 9th to take off and pull over the offenders.

Here is the spot on Google Maps:

View Larger Map

Why I think we can't be saved.

2008-06-28T00:19:00.000-05:00

This morning I was walking by Starbucks in Portland on MLK next to the Burgerville and the Convention Center. I decided I would like a Tazo and a pastry, so I stopped.

The parking lot was completely empty, but the line in the "drive" through had at least 5 cars in it. As I walked through the empty parking lot to the door, I looked at the shiny new white Chevy Tahoe SUV - the last in line.

I went inside, decided I wanted one of their breakfast sandwiches instead of a pastry. They had to prepare it in their toaster thingy so it took a couple minutes. I paid, waited for the sandwich. They called my name, I took my sandwich and tea, and walked out the front door. The lady in the white Tahoe was not even up to the ordering microphone yet.

If $4.50 gas won't encourage a person in a 14mpg vehicle to turn off the engine and walk inside - then there is not much we can do to get people to change their habits.

I see this all the time walking downtown. A person will gun it to go 150 feet to the next stop light. What a wonderful use of all that fuel. I will often pass these people on my bicycle. They will gun it again at the next light, stop, and here I come pedaling along beside them again. The light goes green, they floor it, make it to the next light and chubby old me on my bike creeps up beside them again. They just don't get that they could save so much fuel every month by taking it easy...

Forget the drastic measures like giving up cars and living off hemp you grow in your back yard.... Lets just try not to waste so much for absurdly useless things. Like waiting in the drive up line, when walking in is faster. Like accelerating at top speed from every intersection. Like leaving your engine running when you are behind a train crossing or bridge lift.

I don't think people have yet associated their behavior with the consequences. Not quite yet. Until then, there is not much we can do to save ourselves.

Even if we invent a vehicle that runs on nothing but good intentions and emits only good will, our species will probably find some stupid way to waste somewhere else...

Columbia River Crossing: & worst bottleneck in the nation.

2008-06-27T19:22:00.000-05:00

What motivation would you need to spend 4 billion dollars on one single highway project, 4 billion dollars on one single 5 mile stretch of highway. 4 billion dollars on one single project that would be considered the single most expensive public works project ever in the history of the Pacific Northwest?

Would one of the nation's worst traffic bottlenecks qualify? I mean if you were going to spend twice the city of Portland's annual budget one one single project - would a nationally known and recognized traffic bottleneck be a good place to do so? If you wanted to spend four times the State of Oregon's education budget on a single 5 mile stretch of highway - would you want to cure something that was pretty bad - I mean really bad?

If you were going to ignore peak oil, or climate change, or air pollution, or gas price trends, or vehicle miles traveled trends, or economic advice - and build one single massive project that is likely to suck up regional transportation funds for decades, wouldn't you want to cure one of the sickest sections of highways in the nation?

Certainly you would.

And that is exactly what the Columbia River Crossing aims to do. To alleviate traffic congestion, in the nation's worst traffic bottleneck. Oh wait, according to "the most comprehensive country-wide perspective and city-by-city analysis" the nation's worst traffic bottleneck is in New York City, on the Cross Bronx Expressway and Bronx River Parkway interchange.

OK, so the current I5 crossing over the Columbia, what with all the outdated interchanges and lift bridge, and the limited number of lanes - surely is the second worst traffic bottleneck in the nation. Nope. Second worst bottleneck is also on the Cross Bronx Expressway in New York City.

OK, we can give it to them New York City folks - I mean they have LOTS of people. But the current I5 crossing over the Columbia is so bad that we want to spend several thousand dollars for every man woman and child in the region to build a whole new bridge. It is so bad it is in the top 5 worst bottlenecks in the nation. Right?

Nope.

But the traffic is really bad on the current I5 Columbia River Crossing. I mean, all the politicians and the CRC task force have been telling us so. It has to rank pretty high. Maybe top 10?

Nope.

Top 25?

No again.

In fact, according to the INRIX traffic scorecard the current I5 Columbia River Crossing, one which they want us to spend 4 billion dollars to "fix" is not even in the top 100 worst bottlenecks in the entire nation.

All at a time where fuel borders on $5 a gallon, climate change looms large on the horizon, suburban sprawling developments across the country are in trouble, and construction and raw material costs climb every single day - we are looking to spend more money than we spent on the Hoover Dam to fix a traffic problem that is not even in the 100 worst in the nation.

Sounds like a plan.

A bad one.

In fact, according to their data the worst traffic bottleneck in the Pacific Northwest is 520 in Seattle, barely making the top 100 list at 99th in the nation. It is also worth noting that the top 10 list of worst traffic congested cities reads like a who's who of "build more highways to solve congestion" proponents. Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, etc... Sure lots of highly populated areas show up on the congestion list - but it just goes to show you...

You can't ease congestion by building more roads.

Cartoons as signs of the times.

2008-06-15T11:17:00.001-05:00

You could think these are from Portland, what with all our bike culture and whatnot...

Cincinatti, Ohio.

Atlanta, Georgia.

Oregon is turning 150!

2008-05-13T00:21:00.000-05:00

I know this is kind of early, but:

On February 14, 2009: Oregon turns 150.

Oregon150 is looking to coordinate and plan some big time celebrations. Check it out, and if you or any organizations you are involved with have ideas for something big to say Happy Birthday to Oregon next year - let them know! Or just share your Oregon story.

Why shooting should be banned on public lands:

2008-05-11T23:54:00.000-05:00

I don't need to say too much. The pictures speak for themselves.These pictures were taken at ONE spot on NF-45 forest road in Mt. Hood National Forest. The road is also known as "Memaloose" or "Maymaloose" road depending on which sign and map you read. It is maybe 50 miles outside of Portland, southeast on Hwy 224 - along the Clackamas river.
The country up there is some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet. The ridge lines, and the deep jagged canyon from millions of years of raging water in the Clackamas river are something wonderful to behold.Driving up this road, we passed at least 5 spots that seemed to be popular with shooters, before we turned around. The road is a steep one lane paved road, and our GPS said we went from 700ft. at the river to 3000ft. almost instantaneously. At some points there are steep 1000 foot drops on either side of the road. It is breathtaking. Until you come across the shooting sites, which make you nauseous. I just had to take pictures of one spot, but there are many many more just like it. While I was taking pictures I could hear the shooting echoing around me all throughout the hills.I enjoy shooting. I grew up in a very remote area, and we all shot a lot. Most of my friends shoot.But why on earth can't shooters pick up after themselves? This is one of the most terrible things I have seen in a long time. If this is how the shooters are going to respect our natural areas, then I say - just keep them out. I have never left any litter any time I have gone shooting, camping, picnicking, skiing, or any other outdoor activity. It is not hard folks - "pack it in = pack it out".And DumpStoppers? How are those prosecutions going? Doesn't look too well, I would imagine. Remember - all of these pictures (and all of those included in the flickr set) were at ONLY ONE SPOT!

Chrysler Financial makes up American sounding names

2008-05-08T09:58:00.001-05:00

I have been working with Chrysler Financial this week trying to resolve some issues with a vehicle financed through them. Every time I call I take notes of the call, including who I speak with.

Each call, I have spoken to someone who is Indian. Not Native American, but Indian from the subcontinent of India. Each person has had a very thick accent, with at least two of them being extremely hard to understand. I have not been able to ascertain if they are actually in North America or actually in India...

However, here are the names that they have given me:

Nick Wilson
Sharon
Mark Cooper
Nicolas Adams
Samantha Williams

Either they are making up more American sounding names, or I just happened to call the only 5 Indian customer service representatives who happen to have completely American names.

Considering the fact that I have worked with hundreds of Indian people (I am in the IT industry) and not a single one has had an American sounding name - I would consider the odds to be significantly in favor of them making up names.

This is not unusual. Google "call center american names" and you will get enough articles about it to fill a small encyclopedia.

I don't know which pisses me off more. Having to deal with call centers in India or when they try to patronize me by lying.

Note to "public" cell phone users:

2008-04-30T22:58:00.001-05:00

This goes out to the nice homely lady waiting for and riding bus 58 out of downtown Portland recently. Just because you CAN have personal discussions on the cell phone, doesn't mean you SHOULD.

We, the fellow passengers, have no real interest in your personal afairs. For example - despite what the other person on the end of the line might want to know, we certainly do not need to know that you are suffering your worst cramps in recent memory.

While I can sympathize with you, and I am sure many of our co-passengers can empathize with you - it is really none of our business.

But even if we were to feel some sort of tugging at our heart strings for your unfortunate suffering I feel fairly confident in pointing out that we really have no interest in the fact that you recently had vaginal discharge, which was determined to be caused by an infection which was treated by antibiotics and as such you are now feeling much better.

I am happy that your problem which would possibly embarrass most people has been diagnosed and apparently cured - but unless I am your husband, gynecologist, mother, sister, lover or priest - please leave me out of this discussion.

Just because I am next to you does not mean I need to be privy to the family skeletons.

Overheard in Beaverton: Get your gun to go into Portland.

2008-04-30T22:52:00.000-05:00

I overheard a conversation in Beaverton today where someone was having to pick up a package at the FedEx depot in Portland, "somewhere by the Convention Center" (actually on Swan Island). They were (seriously) complaining that they had to go back home to get their gun in order to drive into Portland.

Oh My God.

Beaverton Benihana delight!

2008-04-22T00:23:00.000-05:00

So we are in Benihana enjoying a special lunch with the family. And the couple that we "shared" the hibachi grill / table with spent most of the meal on the phone or texting. They made several calls each, and then "excused" themselves by saying that today was their daughter's second birthday, and they were planning the party.

Hey, A$$HOLES: It is not my fault you are crappy parents and didn't plan until the last minute. Don't ruin my $20 lunch by blabbering (loudly) on the phone the whole time, please.

And to top it off, each one drank two beers and a goodly amount of saki. And they drove off in separate vehicles. Drunken birthday planners who are rushed and in a hurry! Glad I wasn't driving / biking / or walking around Beaverton this afternoon...

Some random image thoughts from around Portland

2008-04-21T23:43:00.001-05:00

Here are some random image thoughts that I have from around the Portland area. Image thoughts. Those are images that struck me in one way or another, and here are my thoughts about them:

Seen this week at Fred Meyer on NE Broadway & 30th. Best sale EVAR!!!!

This is another one that I took a few years back (Feb 2003 to be exact). I figured I would include it here, for posterity sake. Good thing these price adjustments are "Automatic" because otherwise I would worry about the folks running the store. Or maybe we should anyway, because even if the computer spits out the signs auto-magically, some human has to take the sign and tape it to the products in question. These two photos were taken more than 5 years apart. Why was the "bug" in the software which allows "automatic price reductions" of zero to occur and print out not found and fixed within those 5 years?

You can barely make this one out. But it was a food-shoot. It is inside "Mothers" - and they were having a photo shoot for food. I watched them for a few minutes, and they were really primping whatever it was in that bowl. Maybe for a menu or an add. Who knows? Mothers makes some good food though. Maybe a touch pricey, but good. I will not, however, link to their site because it is annoyingly 100% flash.

Hey Look! It's the Apple Foods trucks blocking the sidewalk and the bike lane YET AGAIN. The owner keeps asking the police why they give him tickets, and I hope they keep telling him that it is because it is illegal to park trucks across the sidewalk or bike lane. Let alone both... This is a very familiar site for anyone who bikes the Springwater to Esplanade connection in SE, near OMSI. I think it is funny that they even re-striped the bike lane to try and give them more room, and they still block it...

Hey folks, look what one of the TriMet ticket purchasing machines was stuck on the other day... So much for Fred Hansen's initiative to improve the reliability and "uptime" of the ticket machines. Maybe they should switch to Macintosh?
Note: the link to the TriMet security page will most likely change in the future. So for this "joke" to be funny even after the page has changed, here is the text I am referring to:

"Improved ticket vending machines
Ticket vending machines are being upgraded and new, more reliable machines are replacing older machines at several eastside MAX stations. Tickets will be available at several concessionaires located at major MAX stations."

New Portland neighborhood community site!

2008-04-17T21:52:00.000-05:00

There is a new neighborhood networking community site, over at PortlandNeighborhood.com.

Their new community component can be found here:

Community @ PortlandNeighborhood

Check it out, join up, and start networking your friends and neighborhoods! It is young but has lots of potential!

People are stupid A$$holes.

2008-04-15T11:33:00.000-05:00

At a large company in downtown Portland, we worked hard to have facilities put in recycle bins. I had no idea that there was so much involved but finally we get them. Nice!

So today I go to take a few bottles and cans, and the "trash only" bin has lots of bottles and cans in with the trash, and the "bottles and cans" bin has lots of trash in with the bottles and cans.

Damn it people, it is three bins. Clearly labeled. How f'ing hard is this?

Are my standards for humanity too high?

An unauthorized biography of me!

2008-04-12T11:20:00.000-05:00

I don't know how these guys did it, but they must have installed secret cameras in my house. There is no other way they could have known...

Hundreds victimized during mass robberies.

2008-03-29T11:37:00.000-05:00

Tonight between the hours of 8 and 9 PM, hundreds of houses were burglarized. Local law enforcement agencies are looking into a possible connection between the occurrences, and have asked that any witnesses please come forward.

And in other news, power companies report minor brownouts across the region occurred around 9:05 PM as demand spiked on the power grid.

Cascadian automobile crashes - by the numbers

2008-03-26T00:44:00.000-05:00

Here is a real interesting counter. You can look in "real time" how many people and how much money is lost due to automobile crashes in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia).

Car Crashes, By the Numbers (counter)

Do you think you are aware?

2008-03-23T00:33:00.000-05:00

Take this quick test:

Consider this little test if you have friends or loved ones who ride bicycles or walk.

Drive Safe...

What I Killed Today

2008-02-06T17:53:00.000-06:00

I normally would not just post a link to another blog - but this one is worthy. It has been "featured" if you will on some much bigger blogs than mine, such as Neil Gaiman and BoingBoing. But this is for my loyal reader...

The What I Killed Today blog is strangely moving, very sad, and almost surreal.

Most Addictive Game Ever...

2007-12-15T02:26:00.001-06:00

I came across "Hordes of Orcs" by Freeverse. This is possibly one of the most addictive games I have ever played. (Currently Apple Macintosh OSX only...)

It is a "tower defense game", and for $25 it is a bargain. (You can save 10% through the month of December by using the coupon code MACSANTA07TEN ).

They have a playable demo that lasts for 60 minutes. It is simple to play, tough to master. I highly recommend it...

(As if I needed something else to cut into my free time).

Portland sports bars - that are minor and kid friendly.

2007-12-11T21:28:00.000-06:00

I wrote in the past about the difficulty of finding good sports bars that allow people under 21. Here is an update to that...

This year we have had some better luck, and have more information to share.

In Portland, there are a few sports bars which allow kids or people under 21, and here is what we think of them.

"OnDeck" in the Pearl reversed their "no minors" policy. But they still suck. Their menu is not all that great, they don't have the most or best TVs or TV placement. Their staff seems to be unmotivated, and in fact it just seems like the whole thing is run by people who don't care about the business at all. I cannot recommend OnDeck at all, even though they have one of the coolest locations in the city. They have no kids menus at all, and they wont even work with you (like make a small version of something on the menu). The service sucks. So over all there is no real reason to go there unless you happen to live right nearby.

Much like the other sports bars, "The City" has a lousy website. But they are a pretty good place. They are right downtown, central to almost everything. They allow kids and minors, the staff have been pretty friendly the several times we went there. Their TVs have an interesting configuration, and depending on what you are watching they can be difficult. For example, if they have some TVs showing a game on local channels, and other TVs showing the same game on satellite - you will have TVs that are a few seconds out of sync which makes for difficult viewing. But that only happens every now and then. They also have Wii and XBox systems set up on some TVs. The place fills up early, but it is a pleasant experience. I recommend "The City" for downtown Portland sports watching.

There is a new arrival in downtown Portland. Sure, "Buffalo Wild Wings" is a huge national chain with no soul and hundreds of identical locations. Sure their menu is adequate - but nothing to write home about. Sure their website is annoyingly 100% Flash - which I hate. And as of this point - they have only been opened for about two weeks and their staff is fairly confused (I expect that to change as they get more experience). But you know what? It is an OK place. It is kid friendly, has a decent kid menu. They have TONS of high definition TVs and it is easy to see any game from any location. The staff while error prone, was friendly and did well. So if you don't mind giving some dough to an out-of-town chain with almost no unique traits - "Buffalo Wild Wings" is a good choice. They are centrally located, right near the Pioneer Place mall, the MAX line and just about everything else downtown. My only real nit-pick about this place is that they nickel and dime you - they like to charge for EVERYTHING. Want a side of ranch? extra. Want a different kind of sauce? extra. Want anything? pretty much they will charge extra.

I save the best for last:

And as I mentioned in my previous post, there is our neighborhood standby - "Skybox" in Sellwood. These people are awesome. They work well with kids, this year they upgraded all their TVs to high def, and they have lots of them. I highly recommend these folks. But they are not 100% perfect... They have a strange TV channel management policy. The manager or owner (I am not sure which) choses which games to put on before hand - and will not change no matter what. No matter who is in the restaurant or where they are sitting, he will not change a darn thing. Two weeks ago he had a game on the big screen (main screen) and with sound that there was not a single person in the restaurant watching. But there were at least 5 people watching a game that he only had on a couple TVs in hard to view places. And even though everyone in the restaurant agreed he should change the channels - he refused to listen. Another down point is it is kinda small, it fills up quick. If you don't get there before a big game you might be out of luck. And my final tiny tiny nitpick? They have no real dessert menu. They really really could use a good milkshake on the menu. But I am just telling you these in the interest of full disclosure - it really is a great place. Please go support these folks - they are local, and they are a good bunch of people!

Portland to rename a street after Douglas Adams

2007-12-11T21:10:00.000-06:00

There are plans afoot, and it looks like the organizations are following city code this time, to rename a Portland street after the late Douglas Adams.

Of course they are working on - 42nd avenue.

This amuses me...

Lets hope they don't bull-doze a row of houses to make room for it...

And as much as I hate to link to myspace, here is the page for the Douglas Adams Boulevard group.

And for the record, I am opposed to renaming streets. But if there is going to be a street renaming frenzy, at least lets have them be clever and fun - and not so controversial. Additionally, I would have to say that this renaming would give 42nd ave MORE significance than the number 42 ever could...

Wii Rocks!

2007-12-11T21:04:00.000-06:00

Guitar Hero III on the Wii is really cool. Even though it is not *my* personal favorite, three members of my family love it. And the word is that it is much harder than the previous two Guitar Heroes.

So if you have a Wii (if you don't, you should...) and you can find a Guitar Hero III for the Wii - I suggest picking it up. You won't regret it.

A small note, however, the Wii version has a glitch where it is only outputting sound in mono. Activision is working with Nintendo to plan the best way to remedy the situation, but we are told to expect free replacement disks early in 2008 which will fix the problem and put Wii Guitar Hero III in stereo like the other two platforms.

New England Patriots must die!

2007-12-11T20:56:00.001-06:00

The NFL is so rigged right now. The Patriots can only win games because they cheat or when the bogus calls on game-influencing plays go their way while everyone agrees it was a bad call.

It all started with the "Snow Job" where they beat the Raiders due to possibly the most bogus call in the history of football - epitomizing a season where after September 11 it was vitally important to have the red white and blue "Patriots" win the championship.

Since then, the Patriots are given excessively easy schedules and play in an excessively weak division. And any game-impacting controversial call goes for the Patriots.

It is bullshit, and it must end.

Success with Portland city services.

2007-12-11T20:32:00.001-06:00

I would like to take a minute to mention that I have had a few very good successes with some services that the City of Portland provides.

If you see a traffic hazard that the city can fix - you can report it by calling (503)823-SAFE. The city has been real good about responding. They fixed the problem I reported in under three days! But there has to be a legitimate problem. You call, leave your name and information and a description of the problem on their answering system. If they need more info they will contact you. Once again, that number is (503)823-SAFE (503)823-7233.

If you have a parking concern. Such as cars parked across a sidewalk, bike lane, or a driveway - you can call parking enforcement. (503)823-5195. I even called them after hours and left a message and there was a response!

If you see Graffiti anywhere in Portland, you can report it to the Graffiti Abatement office. Usually it will be removed promptly... I have had good results with them as well.

Again, these services work and are a great thing for the city. But like anything else, if they are abused they become less worthwhile. Please only use them if you have legitimate concerns.

Portland Police Bureau is officially the worst.

2007-12-11T20:07:00.000-06:00

OK, well maybe not officially. But at least in my mind.

Here I am putting on my opinion hat. This post is purely my opinion and nothing more. I am not going to (at this time) do any research on the subject. I simply want to rant a little.

I love Portland. I have found so many wonderful things here. And the city government is generally one of the better city governments I have ever come across, in all the places I have lived across the USA. The Portland city government is generally accessible. You can usually have good results working with almost any bureau. They work well with people, and most of the staffers that I have met genuinely care and take their jobs seriously. Almost everyone who is "in the trenches" really cares about the city and is working to make it better.

Even the elected officials tend to be pretty good. Sure, as with any elected government - there are SNAFUs like the stupid Cesar Chaves street rename BS and other crap... But that tends to happen anywhere you will have politicians pandering for votes...

But over all I am pretty well pleased with the City of Portland.

Except the Portland Police Bureau. They suck. Seriously.

Read more »

People are stupid.

2007-12-11T20:00:00.000-06:00

Seriously. People are stupid.

Today leaving work, I was maybe three or four steps in front of a woman. We were going through one of those foyers where there are two sets of doors to pass through, placed possibly 10 feet apart or so. Going through the first set, I held the door for the lady, and she walked up to the already opened door that I was holding and she pushed the handicapped "automatic door" button. Then at the next set of doors, I again held the door for her and she again hit the power door button.

What the hell?

And what is with the drivers who get pissed off when you are walking through a crosswalk - like you delayed them 13 seconds or so. They floor it and accelerate at top speed for 41.7 feet where they need to stop at the next light. Great use of fuel there buck-o! And I am sure it is really good for your car too genius. Seriously - with downtown Portland's blocks being less than 200 feet there is NEVER any reason to try and accelerate hard - you'll just end up stopped again.

Of course I have always wondered what is the motivation for people to pull into the intersection so that they get stuck there when the light turns red. Blocking the intersection really doesn't help you at all - and yet annoys everyone else.

Maybe people are not so stupid, but more like oblivious to what is around them. Oblivious to other people. Oblivious to just about anything except themselves and their own shallow little world.

Whatever...

Ahhh, the Mountain.

2007-11-24T17:44:00.000-06:00

There is nothing quite as nice as the first day of the season up on the mountain.

Timberline, Mt. Hood.

There was really only one lift running (Palmer). But it was a wonderful day.

Pucci was a mess, and they tricked us into thinking it would be better to ski down and take the lift up than walking to the mile. Not so. It was icy to the extreme, the snow was so hard packed. And there were rocks EVERYWHERE. It was so hard getting to the bottom of Pucci I wish I had just walked over to the mile. Riding up the mile was strange - as I was in ski clothes, had skis on my feet, and it was cold - but there was no snow. (Even more weird was riding the mile back down...).

Palmer was nice nice nice. Good snow considering. But it was windy and cold. Not too bad though.

After a short first day we called it quits as the biting wind and the long lines (with only one lift it got to be a big wait...) made it so that we felt it better not to push ourselves. Several long runs was enough to break in the new skis (which are way way way better than my old skis).

All in all - I love riding on the mountain. There is nothing quite as good as snow sports - even when they are kinda crummy they are good.

I hope the snow is good this year.

Happy Veterans' Day from Portland!

2007-11-12T11:33:00.000-06:00

No matter what your political views or opinions, those serving in the armed services bear a significant burden - as do those who love and care for them.

Please take a moment to consider those who do serve and have served. Those in uniform deserve our love and respect.

Happy Veterans' day from Portland, Oregon!

Remember Me

2007-11-07T19:03:00.000-06:00

I am the fellow who sits in the restaurant patiently while the waitress does everything but take my order.

I am the man who stands quietly while the department store clerks finish their chit chat.

Yes, you might say that I am a nice guy. But guess what else I am? I am the customer that never comes back. It amuses me that you spend thousands of dollars to get me back into your store when I was there in the first place. All you had to do was to give me a little service and show me a little courtesy.

-taken from the back of a business card for R&J Service Inc. Truck Repair, Portales, New Mexico. (Rick and Jerry from R&J Service were great guys. I have had their business card since the early 1990s.)

No rest for the apathetic.

2007-10-18T23:35:00.000-05:00

I have been involved in may community initiatives, processes, and committees over the last several years, and I have begun to notice something about people. I don't have any links or stats or such - this is just my viewpoint.

Any time there is something done - there are always that camp that must complain. We all know them, the folks that are never happy with any solution. They are more than happy to tell you how the government screwed up, or the government screwed the people, or the government is full of idiots. There is no project too big or too small to draw their ire.

You hear them complain about roads, about Transit, about bicycles, about development, about zoning, about environmental restrictions. Here in Portland we have had some high profile projects that people just love to hate. The Tram. The Streetcar. MAX. South Waterfront or the Pearl.

But if you ask those people "Well, did you attend any of the meetings?" the answer will invariably be "no". (Usually followed by a "but...")

Read more »

Please use Revolving Door

2007-10-06T12:54:00.000-05:00

There is a certain workplace in downtown Portland that anyone who is familiar with it will instantly know what I am talking about. It is a large workplace, and at the entrances there is a revolving door between two regular doors.

There are large signs on the regular doors that say "Please Use Revolving Door". This is because a revolving door does not let in heat or cold the same way a regular door does. When you open a regular door there is a large breeze of air that comes through, and it is very inefficient from a heating or cooling standpoint. A revolving door in contrast, is never really "open". At any point in time two if it's "arms" will be in contact with the walls, allowing it to maintain a "seal".

Well I think a very interesting study in human nature is these doors.

Fully 50% of the people I observe walk through the doors with the big signs on them saying "Please Use Revolving Door".

If I had the time I would sit there with a clicker and count actual numbers. But I am pretty sure that they ALL don't have a revolving door phobia. (If so I think we should start studying that because it would be more common than almost any other phobia that exists!).

Strange. Maybe it is not for me to understand.

Someone destroys my Bill Richardson sticker

2007-10-06T12:49:00.000-05:00

Last night, in Downtown Portland of all places, someone felt the need to destroy one of my Bill Richardson for President stickers.

Sure, I don't expect everyone to agree with me politically. Fair enough.

But what on earth could make you so mad about Bill Richardson? Are you mad because he is a "dark horse" candidate? Are you mad because most people have not even heard of him?

Maybe the person who ripped apart the sticker was from New Mexico and had some personal reason.

In any event I thought it was a strange thing... Now if It had been a Hillary or W sticker I could at least understand the animosity.

To each their own I guess. Just try and keep your mitts off my car.

Calling us racist is an easy way to win - More on Interstate vs. Chavez

2007-10-05T00:36:00.000-05:00

After Tuesday's meeting about the proposed change to Interstate Ave, it seems like the default argument is to label anyone who opposes renaming Interstate to Cesar Chavez - is simply a racist.

They call us racist because they know it will win their argument. We can't come back from that.

Read more »

Stop renaming Portland streets.

2007-09-15T01:08:00.000-05:00

Not only have they chosen one of the best Blogger themes, but the folks at cafe unknown have also put together a wonderful piece laying out much more eloquently than I would - why we should not be renaming Portland's streets, and how there are better more appropriate options.

Please Please stop renaming Portland's streets. Portland has history too. And changing the names of the streets to honor those who were not really even part of Portland's history does a disservice to all of those who have made Portland their home in the last 150 some odd years.

If you want to name new streets - fine. But keep the old ones. Please.

I predicted Oden's injury - poor Trailblazers!

2007-09-13T14:23:00.000-05:00

Back in July (July 5th to be exact) I said that I thought it would be funny if Oden, the Trailblazers new draft pick, was hurt and could not play for this season.

Well, it has come true. He is most likely out for the entire season.

I think this is funny.

Not because I want him to be hurt, not because I enjoy anyone *actually* being hurt. Bit simply because when they drafted him everyone here in Portland went berzerk.

People would not shut up. Banners were hung all over town. People made signs. It was ridiculous. It was like he was the second coming.

What's more amazing is that my exact words were:

Oh, and I think it would be extremely funny if the Portland TrailBlazers pick - Oden - like blows his knee or something while doing something mundane, like getting out of the shower.

Well, here are Oden's exact words from his personal blog:

On my vacation earlier this summer i got up off the couch and remember my knee having a sharp pain in it.

Whoah - I sorta, well, nailed it!

But of course this won't teach all those people not to hang the banners along with the hopes of the entire team all on one person. You see Portland Trailblazer fans - it takes an entire team to win ball games.

But what would I know, I am an Oakland Raiders fan. D'Oh!

Downtown class - but still Kid friendly.

2007-09-12T22:18:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed dinner this evening at Mama Mia in downtown Portland.

Kudos to them. The food was very good, and not too pricey. Adult meals ran from $10 to $20.

But what impressed me the most was that it was a very classy atmosphere, and yet they still were very kid friendly. They welcomed my child with crayons and a picture to color. They have good selection on their kids menu. And the staff was very friendly to my child throughout the entire process.

While I was eating, there were 5 other families that I could see in the dining room. No kids were running around or being noisy or problematic.

I really appreciate when restaurants embrace kids. Not every kid friendly place has to turn into chuck-e-cheese. Some people just like to have good meals in nice places with their children. And usually these people will have taught or be in the process of teaching their children that in a nice restaurant (or any restaurant for that matter) you should behave yourself.

I both dislike parents who find a kid friendly place and assume it means they can let their kids run wild, and restaurants who simply ignore the existence of children all together. I believe there can be a happy common ground.

And Mama Mia was a great example of that. Very nice. Great food. Excellent service. And my child enjoyed it as well. My only real complaint is their all flash based website. Arrgh! At least make a plain HTML "contact us" section or something...

Thank you Mama Mia, and of course Mothers - the sister establishment to Mama Mia - is outstanding as well.

Some vegans make me mad.

2007-09-07T14:12:00.000-05:00

I came across this post on Green Options blog: "10 Survival Tips & Tactics for Eating Veg in a Non-Veg World"

I take issue with a few of their "tips".

Read more »

Not safer, just stupider.

2007-08-29T11:06:00.000-05:00

The first definition of stupider is "Slow to learn or understand; obtuse." I think that there would be good cause to add to it "See American".

Today, while passing through the security checkpoint at Portland International (PDX) I witnessed the TSA personnel sending people to the back of the line for not taking off their flip-flops. They shouted endlessly about removing liquids, regardless of size. And they generally treat every one of us like we were infants incapable of understanding simple instructions.

But perhaps they might be on to something.

Read more »

Extremists suck, No?

2007-08-23T14:22:00.000-05:00

Two minor gripes.

First - I have been noticing a lot of people writing comments or articles lately that end in the question "no?". It is as if we have had a sudden influx of people wanting to sound "international" or something, like they are ESL when most likely they are from Illinois. So many things are now written like this:

"It seems like a pretty good idea to get out of Iraq, no?"

No? Yes? Wait, I am confused. Is it a good idea or not? Are you answering your own question? What the hell are you trying to say?

And my second nit:

Don't people get the fact that the more extreme you are in your leanings - the more damage you usually do to your "cause"?

Read more »

Portland Bridge Clusterf@#k

2007-08-12T16:47:00.000-05:00

Well, we started off with good intentions. We rode down to the Bridge Pedal this morning, and it looked more like the Bridge March.

The line of people walking their bikes extended all the way over the Ross Island bridge and back through the industrial area all the way to OMSI. Packed in, curb to curb.

We turned around and went home. No way I was going to fight that all day.

It is time for the BTA to limit entrants to the Bridge Pedal to 10,000, and possibly break it up into two weekends. One weekend for the 8 and 10 bridge rides, and one weekend for the 6 bridge ride. Each weekend limited to 10,000 riders.

As it currently is, there is just no way that I am going to do this again. And we have ridden in the bridge pedal every year since 2001. But the last 3 years it has been seriously mismanaged and poorly planned.

Anyway, we put our bikes on the bike rack of our Jeep, and went and rode around the Columbia River in Vancouver. No risk of running into too many bicycles in Vancouver. (I am only half joking).

I guess having more than 20,000 bicycle riders trying to participate in an event where we shut down the freeways to cars, and open them to bikes is a good problem to have. Lets just see if we can make it flow a little more smoothly.

Next year, I think our family will volunteer instead of ride in the ride itself. I think some of the people standing on the corners were moving faster than the crowd at points.

Why I like Portland better than the Midwest.

2007-07-20T18:42:00.000-05:00

Today, while visiting the "Mall of America" in Bloomington, Minnesota (Minneapolis / St. Paul metro) a late teens / early twenties woman walked by. She was dressed slightly punk. Something that you might find just about anywhere in Portland.

She had some black clothing on, some funky shoes with heels, a little bit of spiky jewelry, darkish eye make-up and had half her hair dyed green. Nothing really extreme. No visible piercing, no hard core tattoos, nothing that even really looked odd.

A girl, maybe around 6 or 7 years old, asked her mom: "Mom, why is she dressed like that?" and her mom replied "Oh, she must be in costume for the Harry Potter thing they have tonight."

Now, as a thirty something - I would look pretty silly if I suddenly went punk or goth. But by all reasoning, had I grown up in Portland - that is probably how I would have been. Most of the places I like best in Portland - *I* look out of place as the boring-ish guy in a T-shirt and jeans.

And that is what I love about Portland.

It really takes some looking to find those places in Minneapolis, St. Paul. Sure there are the obvious places, like around the University of Minnesota (Gophers easily make as cool as mascot as Beavers and Ducks) - but in my extensive exploring over the last 10 days, this area is EXCESSIVELY suburban and very homogeneous.

Of course, there are many other things I love about Portland too...

Raise the Oregon Gas Tax.

2007-07-10T12:04:00.001-05:00

Pssst. Hey You. Yeah, you. My reader.

It is time to raise the Oregon gas tax.

Now go tell your friend(s)...

Attack of the Steller's Jay

2007-07-10T10:16:00.000-05:00

This morning we came downstairs and in our "breezeway" there was a large Steller's Jay. The Jay came in through our *dog door* and was trapped in the small room. There is only one window and it was covered, so he was just standing there on the railing.

We opened the door to the room, and there he was hopping back and forth on the railing, looking at us with that "don't mess with me" eye. It startled the crap out of us.

This is the bird that regularly terrorizes our cat out in the back yard. I have a strange feeling that he chased our cat through our dog door.

We had to go around back and open the back door from the outside, and he promptly flew out. Lucky our breezeway door had been shut, he might have killed us in our sleep. Or at least made a mess in the house.

He is clearly a very smart bird, as he pooped on my wife's Denver Broncos hat that was there...

And our cat is still frazzled.

Miscellany for the day

2007-07-05T16:30:00.000-05:00

Apparently the absolute BEST time to OMSI or Benihana - is July 4. Both will be completely empty.

People who review movies should have to take into consideration the intent of the Movie. For example, Transformers is not *supposed* to have a strong plot. It is *supposed* to have robots transforming and kicking each-others asses. Sure, the plot should not SUCK. The plot should not BLOW. And the plot should not make you want to HURL. But in an ACTION movie the plot is not supposed to be amazing, groundbreaking, or awe inspiring. But the ACTION should be, and the plot is there to hold it all together. Oh, and not *everything* needs to be completely believably plausible in a SCIENCE FICTION movie.

Changing your career is scary.

What the hell is a "drive by appraisal"? Do they come by in a 1964 Impala and shower your house with machine gun fire, and if it is still standing your house is worth more? Hell, I can drive by a house and say "I'd buy that for a dollar" and it doesn't actually make it *worth* a dollar. But then again, I guess that is why I am not a mortgage underwriter.

Note to record labels: Nationwide suing of your customers will almost always lead to reduced sales. Just thought - since you obviously read this blog - that you might want in on that litle industry tidbit.

Cannondale takes forever to ship "special order" bikes. Oh, and while we are on that subject - it is goddamn near impossible anymore to 1. Buy American made products, and 2. Shop the local guy. And I try MFing hard too. Most people give up WAY WAY before I do. Note to businesses: Making it HARD to buy your products, buy from you, or work with you - does not help us choose you. If your products and prices are already higher because you have to pay your employees more than $1 a day and you can't dump your toxic waste in the front yard - then you better have the BEST DAMN CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE WORLD. I mean if I have to go out of my way to find you, and pay more to get you - then AT LEAST DON'T SUCK WHEN I HAVE TO WORK WITH YOU. Because trust me - most people are not as dedicated to saving the world as I am.

And speaking of "special order bikes" I would like to point out that there are literally hundreds of "commuter" style bikes available in Europe - but somewhere on the order of 7 in the USA. Just like smaller more efficient cars - we just don't get the options here in the states. Who knows how much they might sell if you JUST TRIED TO SELL THEM! The perpetual "there is no market" argument falls down because of course there is no market as people don't know they exist and if they did they couldn't get them anyway... (Quick, go find a *new* compact pickup truck for sale.)

Cake CAN be eaten for breakfast. Don't tell the kids.

It's not what you know, it's who you know. People do more time for Jay-Walking than Scooter Libby did for LYING under oath in court and covering up for an administration that commits TREASON. But hey, what do I know? Paris Hilton only had to do 23 days in jail - while people have done more time for carrying a single joint in their car get years. Who you know baby. Who you know.

Oh, and I think it would be extremely funny if the Portland TrailBlazers pick - Oden - like blows his knee or something while doing something mundane, like getting out of the shower. Not that I wish ill on anyone (outside of the Bush administration that is) - just that the TrailBlazers are putting SO much stock in this ONE guy. Like he is going to win the championship, cure cancer, stabilize the climate, and end world poverty - all this year.

Of course, I guess as a Raider fan I shouldn't throw stones...

Is it football season yet?

Transformers does not disappoint.

2007-07-03T01:16:00.000-05:00

Michael Bay gets to keep his skin, because I just returned from the first showing of "Transformers" at the local theater (Pioneer Place, Portland), and it was everything I had expected.

Judging from the raucous cheers that erupted at various points throughout the movie, and the roaring applause from the filled theater at the close of the show, I would say that I was not the only one who felt that "Transformers" delivered.

I will be taking my entire family to see this one on the 4th.

And as a person who is both highly critical of movies, and had extremely high expectations for the live-action movie made-from-his-childhood-dreams - I enjoyed it very very much.

I will give no spoilers. But Optimus, aside from a new paint scheme, completely *is* Optimus.

My only qualm was the fact that the movie could be classified as a very elaborate commercial for General Motors. However, given that the entire original show was a thinly veiled advertisement for the toys - I guess I can't really be too critical there.

Oh, and Megan Fox is, well, a fox.

Intelligent Design vs. Rock N Roll

2007-06-27T16:58:00.000-05:00

An interesting** paradox came to my mind while I was at the dentist.

And no, I was not on any laughing gas. Although I do hate how as the shots wear off my nose tickled like I needed to sneeze... But dentist visits make for another entry.

The religious Christian folks who advocate teaching "Intelligent Design" in our children's science curriculum usually use a certain angle. It is usually pointed out that "Intelligent Design" and "Evolution" are both theories and therefore can be taught side by side as theory.

All-right, leaving aside the rebuttal that "Intelligent Design" is a moral, historical, allegorical, and theological "theory" and therefore doesn't belong in a SCIENCE curriculum, there is a glaring issue with their "teach them side by side" position.

Creationists like to push the concept that we should teach both theories side by side, and let the kids make their own intelligent decisions about which they feel is the more plausible theory.

While at the same time, those same exact people - are fighting to censor our airwaves. They say that lots of music or TV programming is inappropriate for kids, or even young adults, and therefore should not be on our airwaves. They push "decency" standards. They sue.

Why is it OK for kids to make decisions themselves about the origin of mankind, yet not about exposure to nudity, profanity, or violence?

If we want to go further, we can look at alcohol or tobacco consumption, driving, and even sex and marriage.

All of these things, are the types of things that many of the same people who are pushing "Intelligent Design" actively shelter their children from with the excuse that they are not able to make good decisions as children or adolescents.

But how about the humdinger? All of those things are easy pickins for the the religious zealot. How about something else? How about. . .

Wait for it. . .

Homosexuality?

Why can't a person who is intelligent enough to decide which complicated theory got us here - decide whether or not they prefer same sex companionship?

I say, if they can chose how we got here, they can chose whether or not they want to change the channel when sex and violence come on TV. But if you don't give your child enough credit to make it through life if they are exposed to homosexuality - then they certainly can't handle complex theories like "Intelligent Design" and "evolution".

Oh, I see. You want your kids to be able to chose on the topics you find fitting - but not on anything else.

Ahh, I get it.

(As a side note, every time I typed "Intelligent" in this entry, I misspelled it. Thank god for real time spell checking on my Mac. Does spelling ability have anything to do with "Intellegence" ?)

And no, I don't think all Christians fit my description here. It is just we never hear about those *good* Christians because they are all out, you know, being Christians - instead of trying to piss off the rest of the planet. I think most *real* Christians secretly wish that these crazy extremist annoying hypocritical people who call themselves "Christian" would just disappear - or at least re-brand themselves. Only a *real* Christian will never admit that because they are too loving and tolerant to discriminate like many of the "so-called Christians" do.

Common sense is not common.
-Voltaire

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.
~Seneca the Younger

Gods are fragile things; they may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense.
~Chapman Cohen

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction.
~Pascal

There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs.
-Barry Goldwater

**Well at least it was interesting to me.

Getting around Portland

2007-06-27T12:57:00.000-05:00

There has been a little bit going on with Transportation around Portland recently.

One cool thing that I found is ByCycle. They have made a really cool trip planner that supports Portland. You can use it to find and map bike routes. It contains the Metro "Bike There" map, mashed up with Google Maps and a route planning algorythm. Pretty cool, check it out and play with the trip planner a bit.

The funding for the new Willamette bridge from Riverplace (area) to OMSI (area) for the Milwaukie MAX and Eastside streetcar loop passed. The new bridge will also have very good bicycle and pedestrian access. This will be very good for southeast Portland, and eventually the MAX line is to run to Oregon City. I am sure we will be seeing more on this in the short term future. This comes hot on the heels of news about MAX exceeding ridership records.

Good job legislators, now lets get the Sellwood bridge rebuilt.

I came across a site called GoLoco which could be a great tool for carpooling. It allows you to set up routes, manage fund/cost sharing, review and rate carpool partners, and manage travel profiles. This could be a really handy tool for carpooling for school, work, or events!

Portland ranks high in the USA for bicycle trips. We have the highest percentage of bicycle commuters in the country, and we are ranked in the top 5 for bicycle friendliness. We are #1 in the USA for number of trips made by bicycle. The city of Portland is working on improving that ( even if the Portland Police Bureau thinks otherwise), and so is Metro. But despite all that, we are REALLY behind most european cities.

And finally, starting August 15th, every diesel pump in the City of Portland will be pumping 5% biodiesel blended with 95% regular diesel. This will clean up some of our diesel emissions, and help keep some of our fuel money local. The law has strict requirements about how much biodiesel must be made locally, and what it may be made from. Most of the biodiesel required to meet this demand can be made from recycled restaurant fryer oil. But displacing 5% of our imported fuel is a good start, and the cleaner emissions doesn't hurt either. As long as biofuels are produced locally and sustain-ably, they are a good thing. Portland is on the right track by not only using the fuel but being careful about how we get it.

Portland Police target bicyclists disproportionately.

2007-06-15T23:25:00.000-05:00

Portland police have lately been operating "stings" against bicyclists. They have been watching for things like not staying within bicycle lanes or not coming to complete stops at stop signs (including putting your foot down).

They have been targeting areas like SE Clinton around 26th, Ladd's Circle, the area between OMSI & the Springwater Corridor, the area on the east side of the Broadway bridge, and several others.
(Google "Portland bicycle enforcement action" to find lots of reports).

I have personally seen the ones between OMSI and the Springwater corridor, including one tonight. Often these "stings" will use massive amounts of manpower, the one at Ladd's Circle had at times six to ten officers on motorcycles and in cruisers. Tonight there were two motorcycle cops issuing citations.

According to Jeremy Van Keuren, Public Advocate for the office of the Mayor Tom Potter:

"In an average month, the Traffic Division will issue approximately 1500 to 1800 citations. About 100 to 150 of those go to bicyclists (though that number may increase during
the warm months)"

Since almost all of these stings took place during commuting hours, and commuting numbers are the easiest to find - I am going to focus on them.

Here come my "back of the napkin" calculations:

According to the US Census Bureau, 62.4% drive to work and 3.5% of Portland commuters commute by bicycle.

257,510 total commuters in Portland daily, which assuming an average month of 20 commuting days that works out to 5,150,200 commuters per month. 3,213,724 of them are by car, and 180,257 are by bicycle.

Bicycle commuter volumes are 5.6% of motor vehicle commuter volume.

According to the mayors office, 6.66% to 8.3% of citations are issued to bicyclists, and by their own admission - the percentage issued to bicyclists during the warmer months may increase.

Which means that if you only look at commuting numbers, bicyclists are receiving citations at a rate 1% to 2.7% more often than motorists.

Now lets consider the fact that my numbers are only looking at commuting. If we were able to somehow quantify the total number of bicycle miles ridden in Portland verses the number of motor vehicle miles driven in Portland, I would seriously bet that the percentage of bicycling drops way below 3.5%. Especially when you factor in all possible miles travelled within Portland.

If that is the case then the Portland Police are issuing citations to bicycles at a drastically higher rate than they are motorists. This is consistent with the anecdotal evidence that the bicycling community has been compiling.

This is disturbing to me because motor vehicles kill far far more people than bicycles do.

Which would imply that these "stings" are a massive waste of police resources.

Of course, none of this is scientific, or even guaranteed accurate. Use this info merely as a starting point for further inquiry.

This post is NOT to debate laws, or bicyclists habits. Go somewhere else to debate that. I will simply say that there is no excuse for anyone, motor vehicle or bicycle to not obey the laws and if the laws are broken citations are legitimate.

The purpose of this post is both to highlight the disparity, and to postulate that if *real* safety was the *actual* concern of Portland Police, they would work on education and warnings for bicyclists, and issue citations to the people in the 4000 pound killing machines.

I don't think this sort of selective enforcement actions against bicycles will help Portland achieve Platinum status.

Every bit of plastic ever made still exists.

2007-06-05T00:09:00.000-05:00

If you have ever crate trained a pet dog, you will have found that dogs will do everything within their power to not shit where they sleep.

A dog will hold it until their face turns blue. Unless of course they are already blue, then they will just get a darker shade.

And if you (and the dog) have had the misfortune of getting stuck a little to long, and the dog HAS had to go in their crate, the minute the poor canine makes eye contact with you - you know it. The dog will feel as though they have betrayed the universe by pooping in the crate.

Well, humans are assholes. We could learn a thing or two from our dogs.

We only have one earth. Only one. No "fall back" or "plan B" exists despite what you may see in the Star Trek movies or read in the Cristopher Stasheff or Orson Scott Card novels.

I imagine that some day some poor wasted species - a distant relative to the Human - who has had to survive underground or in bubbles without being able to breathe air freely or some such crazy "12 Monkeys" like scenerio - might be looking for clues as to what turned the world into an inhabitable toxic wasteland. They come across a time capsule buried toward the end of the human species span on Earth - and open it. It contains one solitary word inscribed in a piece of plastic: "Sorry."

You see, we are filling the planet with a substance that is less than 150 years old. And it is changing, killing, and destroying everything we can see and things we cannot.

Our oceans are turning in to plastic ... are we?

Recently I was at Fred Meyer (a store chain we have here in the northwest) and I bought one small bottle of ibuprofen. (Yes, it was a plastic bottle). The lady put the one small bottle into a plastic bag when she rung it up. I said "Oh, thanks, but I don't need a bag. Save it for the next person." and she said "Oh, OK". Then she proceeded to take the small bottle out, set it on the counter, and THREW AWAY THE BAG.

I envision a future - if we don't kill ourselves off first - where there is a significant industry built around mining for plastic. Perhaps the "plastic rush" will make all of those old landfill properties really valuable...

Even if you don't subscribe to the doom and gloom, at least answer to me why we have to make disposable products out of material that lasts thousands of years? And what did human kind do before we had plastics?

Couldn't my 30 count ibuprofen come in a small paper envelope?

Do we need a completely new straw EVERY time the waitress refills the soda?

Why does every restaurant now give kids a completely NEW set of crayons for them to doodle with for the 7 minutes between ordering and getting the food? And why do those crayons need to be hermetically sealed in a plastic wrap?

Sometimes I really believe that humans are lazy, inconsiderate, shortsighted, stupid assholes.

And I include myself in that list as well.

But I am trying to change, and teach my child as well.... Perhaps the 1.8 people who read this might be working towards that goal as well.

Or - maybe not.

Suppressing one little number... (updated!)

2007-05-01T16:43:00.000-05:00

Well, there is an awful lot of hubub on the net today about a certain number that the MPAA does not want people to see. Supposedly this number can be used to decode HD-DVD disks or some such use.

Of course I would never condone such things.

But I do not condone censorship either, and this kind of behavior shows what the DMCA is really capable of. So, people all over are finding creative ways to share the number.

I can't vouch for any of these links. They might be valid for a while, they might not. And if you are worried about "work safe" content - I can't guarantee that either. This post itself has profanity...

Here is my favorite so far, by Ludwik Trammer:

there were 09 planets
in the solar system
Fucking 9 planets
not 11
and not 02
but exactly 9 Damn planets
right in the middle
and everyone seemed happy

until 74 professors
meet on the conference
and started to wonder:
"we should have Exactly 3 planets
in our system" – proposed one
other opposed:
"regarding number of planets,
my colleague's idea with 5 Bothers me a little
shouldn't we make them Deliberately 8?"

41 professors liked the idea,
but 56 voted against it.
the revolutionists mobilized their base
and Called 5 scholars who couldn't come
to ask about their opinion
and couple more sent their votes via e-mail
at the end 63 votes for the change
and 56 were still against it

"nnow wwhen wwe hhave oonly 88 pplanets
wwhih oone sshould wwe rremove?"
- asked the stammerer
"pluto" – their all agreed.
there was no point in keeping this planet
disney stopped paying for the product placement
years ago

but the point is – how many normal people
they asked? people from different Countries? 0.
shame on them. let's go and watch a movie.

But some others are noteworthy as well. There is a digg story about it here, and here; and of course a slashdot story.

Some enterprising individuals have registered domains under .com , .org , and .net

This is a slightly annoying flash movie featuring the number. Want to stick it to the man?

I think the number has gotten out...

UPDATE: Someone recorded a song... Maybe you would like an eCard of the number? And of course there are a couple T-Shirts. There is even an OSX Screensaver. This is a really sweet riddle.

Oh yeah, there have been probably 10 more stories on digg about it as well. And now there are reports on other sites of digg's mishandling of the issue as well, and for a time every single story on digg's front page included the number. I don't need to link to them, they are all over the place...

UPDATE 5/2: It looks like digg got slammed. The user revolt is covered by boingboing, Consumerist, ITWire, and even more mainstream sources like Wired, BBC, Forbes, and Information Week. ZDNet has a good piece about the possible implications of this sort of event.

I found a rap that is pretty good too.

BikePortland censors the word "jerks".

2007-03-20T16:05:00.000-05:00

In a comment I made to BikePortland they censored the word "Jerks".

They censored three words I used. The first was "Asshat", which while I clearly don't think that to be a terrible word, I will at least give them the leeway to censor that on their own site.

However I am not sure what the problem was with the word "Jerks".

Here is the original text of my comment:

Too bad River City Bicycles is staffed by clueless asshats.
I went in there twice in the last couple years to buy some moderately expensive bike things (a couple at about $300 each). The first time they were jerks, I chalked it up to maybe a bad apple or someone having a bad day. Last week we tried again and they were jersks again. So we left and spent our money elsewhere…
Too bad too, I am in the market for a new Cannondale and they won’t get my business.

(Note, the second occurrence of "Jerks" contains a typo extra s, I understand that already - no need to comment and tell me.)

They replaced the "jerks" with **moderated** That seems a bit lame.

And as for what happened at River City bikes, well - it is not really that big of a deal. I just felt that the clerks gave clueless answers with lame excuses - and instead I chose to take my business elsewhere... The Bike Gallery guys were very nice and helpful, as they always have been = despite the fact that their model of the tag-a-long bike I was looking for would not fit my bike. I wish TREK made more models in the USA so that I could buy more stuff from Bike Gallery (I try to buy as locally made as possible. Portland, then Oregon, then Pacific Northwest, then USA - you get the idea).

Anyway - Kudos to BikePortland for excessive censorship.

Jonathon Maus, author of BikePortland later responded with this:

I do not have rigid rules for how I decide to moderate. In some cases “jerks” would be OK…but since you first called them something less appropriate I decided I did not like the tone in this situation.

And “BikePortland” is not some organization. It is one person (me). It is my business and I reserve the right to moderate any word at any time for any reason.

Yay Jonathon.

And since your readership is probably a hundred thousand times mine, as I am pretty sure that only myself and the friends I trick with TinyURL links ever read my blog - you probably have a much bigger "right" to reserve.

However, I find it a little absurd that you did not like the "tone" of me complaining about a Jerk working at River City.

Bah, whatever. In any event - it sheds a little light on what may or may not be edited at BikePortland if people disagree with Jonathon.

And no matter what you say, the staff at River City were, in my opinion, Asshats.

Oregon House passes 3 renewable energy bills.

2007-03-01T13:49:00.000-06:00

House Bill 2210B was voted on and PASSED in the Oregon House just now.

This measure is designed to encourage the Oregon based growing and production of biofuels. These including tax credits for producers or growers, some easing of restrictions of where biofuels production facilities can be sited, and a standard for quality and volume of biofuels in Oregon use.

However one thing that catches my eye, is the consumer tax credits:

Sections 24-28 provide for:
"BIOFUEL CONSUMER INCOME TAX CREDIT"

25.2.a - "A resident individual shall be allowed a credit against the taxes otherwise due under ORS chapter 316 for costs paid or incurred to purchase fuel blends for use in an alternative fuel vehicle."

The sections go on to describe the details, and the amounts.

But basically - for E85 or greater use, or B99 or greater use can get as much as 50 cents per gallon up to $200 max per year tax credit for using biofuels!

That will be a nice benefit for those of us who have been using Biodiesel for years now. Joy!

Additionally 2211B and 2212A passed as well.

Lets see what the Senate does with them...

Portland gains Google real time traffic maps!

2007-02-28T16:10:00.000-06:00

Portland is one of the cities who now have real-time traffic speed maps.

Check it out: Portland - Google Traffic Map

If you are a Mac OSX 10.4 user, here is a dashboard widget with the real-time traffic information as well: PDX Traffic.

And for direct to the source, here is the ODOT Trip-Check site.

I guess a short blog entry is better than nothing.

SuperBright LED tail light replacement not super bright

2007-02-10T17:14:00.000-06:00

Recently I purchased a pair of "Luxeon" 3 watt LED bulb replacements for my motorcycle, a 2006 Kawasaki Concours. The tail lights on my motorcycle are the combo running-light / brake-light that many tail lights are, and use bulb type 1157.

There are many reviews of standard LED tail light replacement bulbs, and most of them say that they are just not bright enough. The consensus seems to be that you really need to have LED systems designed for the light from the ground up - as the bulb replacement units simply fall short.

The main problem, is that LED lights are very directional, they have a very narrow beam of light. Most tail light enclosures are designed for a regular incandescent bulb which puts light out in all directions. Because of this they use mirrors and lenses to direct the light out of the enclosure. This is the way that tail lights appear to fill up with light when they only have one small bulb in them.

LED bulb replacements typically will just shoot light out in one direction, so they do not fill the light or create a good amount of visibility from the sides.

There are new LEDs that have come on the market in the last year or so that are called "Luxeon" or sometimes "Lux". They are very very bright. In fact, in certain applications they are bright enough to damage your eyesight. However, they require more complex circuitry and usually very good heat sinks. They also supposedly have (for LEDs) a very wide beam pattern. 120 to 130 degrees.

I found some "Luxeon" 1157 bulb replacements, and decided to try them. I bought them from SuperBright LEDs. I purchased the red 3 Watt Luxeon 1156/1157 bulb for $24.99 each. This is their description at the time of writing this:

These are by far the brightest LED Car Tail Light bulbs on the market
Our exclusive LX3 series bulbs use High Power 3 Watt Luxeon LEDs to achieve light outputs even higher than standard filament bulbs
3 Watt LEDs feature super wide 130 degree beam angle to illuminate entire tail light lens

SuperBright LEDs shipped the order VERY FAST, and it came exactly as ordered. The Kawasaki Concours has two bulbs together in one tail light, so it is very easy to compare side by side with the stock bulb. The stock bulb is the bulb that came with the Concours, it is not a high power bulb or anything custom. It has been in use for about 3000 city miles, just under one year.

Here are the pictures so you can decide for yourself. I tried to duplicate conditions for each picture as best I could, it was in the evening and in February in Portland the days are short, so my light was running out quickly.

The Luxeon LED is on the left, the stock bulb on the right. In all pictures the motorcycle was running a high idle with adequate voltage getting to the lights.

running lights

brake lights

running lights

brake lights

running lights

brake lights

So, I decided that the Luxeon lights were just not right for this application. They may or may not work in your tail light configuration, as a lot depends on the mirrors and lenses. I returned the lights to SuperBright LEDs, and they were completely awesome. I highly recommend SuperBright LEDs for your LED needs, and I will definately be watching them into the future as more and more LED products come into the market.

I also might try the Eagle-Eye Tower from AutoLumination as they have the bright 3W Luxeon bulb facing out, and 10 bright LEDs facing the sides to light up the mirrors. I think these might fill the tail light with light better, using more of the built in reflector. But I found in some forums that some of the lights from AutoLumination broke fairly early, possibly due to a lack of vibration resistence. A car or motorcycle is an environment with lots of vibration, so at $25 a bulb it could get expensive if the lights didn't last. I do not have any personal experience with them - it was just what I read that led me to try the SuperBright LEDs product first, as they have a good reputation amongst auto enthusiasts.

In the end, I think that currently the best bet for the Concours is to go with custom LED solutions instead of a bulb replacement. However they tend to be more expensive. For other tail light applications, you might have better luck. But a custom LED designed for your car or bike will probably always work better than a "drop-in" one size fits all attempt.

And as always, your mileage may vary.