"Closed, But Still Awesome" - Snapshots Of San Francisco

We walked my grandson to his pre-school this morning along with a foldable shopping cart full of toys and other young child related items and put them into this bin of things being collected for kids who had to flee from the Santa Rosa and other Northern California fires.




And as someone who has a soft spot for good, clever graffiti, I had to take a picture of this sign inside a bus.

Lombardi Sports closed after 66 years in business.  This 2014  SFGate article discusses legacy businesses, like Lombardi Sports, that are giving way to more lucrative uses of the properties, like high rise condos.  But a 2016 SF Chronicle article says  Lombardi will become a Whole Foods store, not  high rise condos.

This hydrant begged my camera to take its picture.  I've no more to say about it.



I was taken by Cheese Plus' closed sign.  A delivery guy came with a dolly full of stuff, but the front door was locked.  It was not quite 10am, but a guy inside opened it and let the man in.

I told him I liked the sign.  He introduced himself as Joe and showed me the other side of the sign:  "Come In, We're AWESOME."


Here's Joe, below.  There's a little outdoor cafe on the side and he pointed out that the coffee was all from Equator Coffee, a coffee company that pays its farmers above market wages and, bingo, the name had a meaning beyond a ring around the center of the globe.



But I'm always a bit skeptical of business folks making claims to being super fair to their third world suppliers, so I looked up Equator Coffee.  The website is long on abstract philosophy and short on specifics of how they actually carry out their ideas.  That doesn't mean they aren't a great, conscientious company.  There just isn't much hard information there. For example, from Equator's website:

"Equator’s philosophy on coffee is built from a question: how do we create value from our perch in the coffee supply chain, standing at the intersection between local and distant coffee communities? It is this question that continues to frame our narrative as we strive to grow a business that values the stakeholders in both communities with respect for the people, the process, and the product. Equator believes that quality underlies economic and environmental sustainability, and this is the pillar of our approach. We support environmentally sound certifications, as well as practices that produce the highest quality coffee while securing a dignified life for those who produce it.  

It is no surprise that the relationships we have nurtured through the years remain at the heart of our coffee program. Brooke and Helen routinely pay quality incentives to farmers, support farming community initiatives, and provide micro-loan credits—all to ensure Equator has a consistent supply of quality coffee. Only with those practices in place can Equator’s dedicated and experienced team here in Marin transform the farmers’ efforts into a quality cup of coffee so that you can enjoy the results of all their hard work."  [emphasis added]

 I was vaguely aware of games where people become part of the performance, but only just barely.  But I wanted to find out more about this one, particularly the claim of Best Escape Room Nationwide.    I found Escape Room Tips' website which had a page titled "8 Best Escape Rooms in San Francisco:"

Real Escape Room, or this one on Polk St, Escape From the Jail, wasn't listed.

For those of you still scratching your heads out there, Room Escape Artist explains what these are all about.  Here's their  beginning:

"What’s a Room Escape?
18 june 2015 by david spira, posted in player tips
You get locked in a room with a bunch of people. The room is a puzzle that you solve by resolving the smaller puzzles that are contained within it.
These things go by a lot of names (room escapes, escape games, exit games, locked room games, adventure rooms). Whatever you call them, they’re all referencing the same general concept.
Wait… Locked in?
Yeah… Usually you are locked in the room, and your goal is to find the key to get back out.
Some states or municipalities have laws that prevent the company from physically locking you in, games in those locations have to get a bit creative."

The other day I discussed anger in the US and how we have an economic system that puts most people under unreasonable amounts of stress.  But we blame the person who has the stress, instead of questioning what it is about our system that causes the stress.  So I was ready to see this poster in that context.

Again, in a country where so many people are affected by stress, why is Sam to blame here for his heart's problems?  Rather it's the system that puts so many under great pressure.  And even if heart and cholesterol medications prevent lots of heart attacks, that takes away (thankfully) one of the worst consequences of that pressure, but not the cause.











Art takes all forms here in San Francisco.

And finally, my son pointed out this self-driving car.  I wouldn't have known, especially since there was someone in the driver's seat.  It does have interesting protrusions on the roof.

She Stands By Her Man - Both of Them

So Axios had a couple of posts up yesterday, one after the other.

The first was about Sen. McConnell and Trump feuding.  They show McConnell's tweet supporting Sen. Flake's reelection a few hours after Trump tweeted his support for Flake's opponent in the Republican primary.  Then they go on to explain why it matters.

McConnell, who was reportedly livid with the way the president handled the violence in Charlottesville, has been engaged in an ongoing feud with Trump following the president's series of tweets criticizing the Majority Leader's performance. McConnell's latest statement in support of Flake only adds fuel to the fire.

Their earlier post which was the immediately before the McConnell piece was titled :

"White House calls it quits on Infrastructure Council"

Screenshot from Axios

And had this picture:


The woman on the right is Elaine Chao, Secretary of Transportation, who probably could use the political support of an Infrastructure Committee.  But more than that, she's also Mitch McConnell's wife.

What I didn't know until I googled Elaine Chao to double check her position in the Trump administration, was that after this press conference, she was asked about Trump's tweets that criticize her husband.  Her answer:

"I stand by my man - both of them."

Trying To Make Transit Work In Anchorage

Anchorage's People Mover busses don't run very often (a few come by every 30 minutes, but most every hour) and we have a pretty low density.  The low density is one of the attractions of Anchorage, but it makes running a bus system hard.

So after talking to the public last year about proposed changes then (I think, but it could have been earlier this year), the People Mover has proposed a new schedule which combined a couple of their alternatives.

Here's an announcement at their website:

New Bus System
Big changes are coming! The entire People Mover bus system is being restructured to reflect the priorities we heard from you during Anchorage Talks Transit.
Beginning October 23, 2017, you can look forward to...

• Less Waiting - Buses will arrive more frequently, some as often as every 15 minutes. Weekend bus frequencies are also increasing to every 30 minutes for most routes. 

• More Hours - Most routes will operate from about 6am to midnight on weekdays, about 8am to 8pm on Saturdays, and about 8am to 7pm on Sundays. 

• Better Service - More frequent buses means easier transfers to a wider range of destinations. This also means that fewer trips will require you to connect through the Downtown Transit Center, resulting in less out-of-direction travel. 

Click here to view a complete list of bus stops that will be serviced by the new system.
Click here to view individual route maps and a stops served by route.
Please click the links below for a detailed look at the new system map. Schedules listing exact departure times will be released as soon as they are finalized.

I went to the meeting held today at Spring Hill Elementary school.  I think there were four people from People mover and maybe 15 to 20 members of the public.

On the right is the table with maps proposed schedules for all the routes.  

The three benefits listed in the announcement above, apply to people who live in the more central areas.  For people who live further from downtown, the new system means busses are further away and less frequent.  

A woman from Oceanview was distraught.  She'd moved into her house many years ago because a bus went right down her street.  Now it will be gone and she'll have a mile walk to the bus stop.  She was over 50 and using crutches.  She didn't see herself walking a mile on icy or uncleared sidewalks in the winter and wasn't sure if a mile was feasible even in the summer.  

Bart Rudolph

But People Mover has to balance routes against ridership.  It might have been helpful if they had given us some data on cost per passenger for each route so people could see why they cut some routes.  

On right is Bart Rudolph, planner for the transit department.  Mostly the staff members mingled with the crowd to answer questions one-on-one or in small groups.  

I live in a bus rich area on the west side of the University and I'm losing my favorite route to downtown (Route #2), but route #3 will be replaced by route #10 and should be coming by every 20

Collin Hodges

minutes instead of every 30 minutes.  (Route 3 was one of the few routes that currently comes by more than once an hour.)

The hope is that more people will ride the bus if they come by more often.  But it's going to take a lot of persuading to get people onto the bus, even if it goes more often.  They need new riders and from what I can tell, most of the people at the meeting were current riders with concerns about losing their busses.  The lady from Oceanview said people like her have campaigned hard to fund transit over the years.  It was clear that losing her close bus stop is not going to keep her a strong supporter of the system.  

The People Mover needs to do all it can to attract new drivers to these more frequent buses.  Some thoughts I had:

• Make the intro period for the new schedule a time that welcomes new passengers (and old)
• Send out two week free passes with all the utility bills and make them printable on line for those who pay online
• Sell $1 two week bus passes, so that they have more value in people's eyes than a free pass.  
• Put up games and contests online and elsewhere that require people to look at the routes and scheduling to win prizes - like free bus passes
• Put together a contest or scavenger hunt that requires teams to ride all the routes the fastest.  People would have to read the schedules carefully to figure out the best connections.  But they would then know how to use the people mover well.  Pitching this to middle and high school students might get lots of them onto the buses, especially if contestants get a free bus pass and winners get prizes.  

But they also have to overcome emotional barriers to people using the bus.  

• Buses are for the poor
• Some people equate riding the bus with being poor, with not being able to buy a car
• Others think there are strange people on the bus and don't want to be exposed to them.  There are some strange people now and then, but they are everywhere else too.  But there are far more very normal, friendly people too.
• Buses are inconvenient and take much more time


• The new schedule will make the buses more convenient for people in the core area
• Making stops and getting back on has meant long delays in the past, it should be better now, but still nothing like bigger, denser cities where buses come by every ten minutes.
• Shopping is harder when you go by bus and need to carry things.  Maybe People Mover can sell collapsable wheeled carts that folks can use when the shop and use the bus.  
• The bus is easiest for people who use it every day for the same route. 
• New apps make it easier to check on routes and when the next bus is due.  Google maps* has real time bus information, and texting your bus stop apparently does too.  But the call up just tells you the next stop based on the schedule, not real time.  *It doesn't work on my old Safari browser, but it does on Firefox.  

David Levy was camera shy

I think about the woman in Oceanview.  The internet makes connections much easier.  Nextdoor.com is a website that allows neighbors to talk to neighbors.  I suspect that people might be able to work out rides to bus stops that way.  Or find other people int he same predicament.  If there are enough who go at the same time, maybe a Lyft driver could pick them all up and get them to the bus, even to their destination without the bus.  Collin suggested Ride Share as an option.

A little lot of brainstorming is needed to figure out how to get people from their homes to the bus stops where the bus stops have become much farther away.  

I'd encourage people who do live near a new, more frequent route, to learn how to use the bus system, even if they only use the bus once a week to a location that's a direct shot from their house.  It's an adventure.  

A Good Alaska Day - Winner Creek Tram

Drove down to Girdwood with my daughter and granddaughter in the car.

A stop along the way to check out the Dall sheep above the highway.

In the other direction were the mudflats of Turnagain Arm. (I didn't do any editing of the shot below.)

The Winner Creek trail includes a tram across the river.  Here's looking at the next people in line pulling the ropes that got us across the gap.

Someone said there aren't too many of these left in the U.S.  And as I was looking up whether there are others, I kept getting sent back to just this one.  I did find this 360˚ view of the tram which gives you a much better view than mine.  (And for Jeremy, I found this video of Tram D201 hand wired with nine original tram tubes.)

And here's a view of Winner Creek from the tram.  The tram was much more primitive when we first pulled our way across, I don't know how many years ago.

From the tram it's a short (really short, sign says .2 miles) walk to the bridge over the Winner Creek gorge.  Here's a picture long down creek from the bridge.

And here's looking up the other side where the wide creek is forced into the narrow gorge.  Again, from the bridge.

Here it is from a little trail going up the creek a ways.

And since silent, still photos simply cannot do this experience justice, I took a bit of video from this spot to give you a better sense of the glory of this spot, one of my favorites in Alaska.  (Which means, of course, in the world.)




And then you can look on down below to see where it goes after the end of the video.

Here's a closer view of one of the rock walls above the water.

Then we took the tram back.  It's Independence Day holiday and people have found out about the tram.  There were 30 people waiting to get back across.  The tram holds two people (we took my granddaughter, but she's a wee thing).  It gets hand pulled across the gorge, then hand pulled back.  So it was a bit of a wait.

Late lunch at the Bake Shop and dessert at The Ice Cream Shop at what can only be called a strip mall where the Alyeska road meets the Seward Highway.  Good day with good friends.

Most Beautiful Day Of The Year

Forget-me-nots

OK, some might argue that there were some great winter days, but today was by far the best summer day of the year.  The weekend was cloudy, rainy, some sun poking through the clouds.  Chilly - in the 40s, low 50s.

Yesterday was sunny and much warmer, getting near 60˚F.  But today it said 71˚F on our outdoor thermometer and sitting out on the deck felt decadent.  The leaves are all out.  Some flowers too.

Phlox

Narcissus 

Got up and attacked my to do list.  A couple of unexpected things came up, but got them taken care of too.  One item on the list was to cut the May Day (Choke Cherry) tree flowers so they don't send seeds throughout the yard and neighborhood.  I had discovered - because of the flowers - that we had one way in the back of the yard, on the other side of the fence even.  I cut off all the branches, then cut off all the flowers.  But then I discovered another one near the deck.  These are highly invasive trees that also make moose sick.  I've posted about them before - May Day Tree Invasion - Obvious While Blooming.  

Choke Cherry Flowers 

There were a lot of planes flying over.  The Anchorage Airport FB page explains why:

"Runway 15/33 Closure: The North/South runway will be closed for preventative maintenance with an estimated timeframe from May 8 - 28th, from approximately 8:00am to 7:00pm, Monday through Saturday. This will likely result in more aircraft departures to the East over mid-town Anchorage and more noise impact to the community during those times."

But it was still nice working and reading lazily out on the deck.  

My Tire Got Screwed

It was pretty easy to see why I had a flat tire.  Fortunately, the car was in front of the house and I have a great neighbor who loves working on cars.

First he unscrewed it.  You can see the grayish mark of the head of the screw and the hole in the middle.  He had a tool to go in the hole and clean it out.

Then he pulls out this sticky rubbery strip - looked like sticky licorice - and threaded it into another tool and applied the glue.

And then he shoved it into the whole.  The two ends go up as he pushes down.  Then he pulls out the tool and there's just a bit of the two ends sticking out when he's done.  He fills the tire and we're back in business.

Good neighbors make life so much better.  Thanks Roy.

Cut Teachers Pay To Preserve Their Peers' Jobs?

There were a number of noteworthy (which literally means worthy of noting) clusters of words in today's Alaska Dispatch News.

Here's the letter that triggered this post's title:

"Teachers should work for less
To go along with the article "Senate education plan could cut hundreds more jobs statewide" by Dermot Cole, teachers statewide should consider taking a reduction in pay during this state of Alaska budget crisis to help save some of their peers' jobs!
— Richard N. Ramirez
Anchorage"

What sort of pay cuts is Mr. Ramirez suggesting?  Why should teachers alone take a cut in pay for the benefit of everyone else's children?   Why, "during this state of Alaska budget crisis" shouldn't all Alaskans take a cut in pay to help save some jobs?  And to help keep the student/teacher ratio a little lower so each kid gets more attention?

But why stop at teaching jobs?
If everyone who works in Alaska (including non-residents) took a cut in pay, no one would have to take too big a cut.  There is a way to, in effect, have all working Alaskans take a cut in pay to share the burden.  Now that oil isn't paying all our bills, shouldn't all of us pay equitably for the roads and  the bridges,  for our state parks, for keeping our water clean, for use of the airports, for disease prevention, and all the other, sometimes, invisible, benefits of having a state government?  All these things we use and like a lot that we don't notice until they stop working.  Shouldn't Alaskans take a little pay cut for what we get, like the people in other states and in the rest of the world?

There's a system already set up to do that.  It's called an income tax.

It does exactly what you are saying teachers should do - take a cut in pay.  We'll still get our PFD's. Come on all my mighty fellow Alaskans who get all these state benefits for free.  Let's stop whining and grow up and pay our fair share.  But, let the legislators know, you want them to design a tax that is as easy as filling out a PFD application.


Another opinion that caught my attention was Suzie Smith's 'aw shucks' defense of keeping our taxi regulations the way they are by voting yes on proposition 8.

"If having 300 cabs available on the streets to take us from A to B whenever we wanted them actually didn't cost us any more money than having 188, then why stop there? Can we have 1,000? 10,000?  Hey, can we have, like, a cab each? Parked outside our houses, with a private driver wearing a chauffeur's hat? He can take us wherever we need to go for the same rates … in fact, it should cost us less, because competition, right?"

Cute, but no one is asking for a cab for everyone.

Let's stick with 300 cabs for a minute.  Give us the numbers to show us how many hours cabs have fares and how many hours a day the average cab is riding empty.  Or which hours no cabs are available.  Show us how much income you get by owning a cab permit, the hours you work on cab stuff, and what that comes to as an hourly wage.  Maybe you have numbers that prove your point, but you didn't offer them here.  And you didn't mention things like access for handicapped passengers which was improved by the ordinance you want to repeal, or how Uber and Lyft are going to impact the taxi business.  Or is this really about how much you stand to lose if your permit loses its value?

There's also a great story in We Alaskans about an Indonesian 17 year old who is an exchange student in Kasilof told from the perspective of the student and her American temporary father.  I've spent ten minutes trying to find a way to link to the story for people who aren't ADN subscribers, but I can't.  Here's a link to We Alaskans with the other stories in today's edition, maybe it will show up eventually.

Finally, I'd note that Nathaniel Herz' brief interviews with new legislators gives us a chance to see these people as, well, people.  Nat got glimpses that add a little bit to our understanding of individual legislators and the legislature as a whole.  Rep. Jason Gren has a son named Atticus who's not pleased that his daddy isn't always home to tuck him into bed. Rep. Dean Westlake is part of the R.J. Reynolds Caucus which meets for smoke breaks and gives him a chance to spend time with Republicans.  Gary Knopp gets to ride excavators and road graders when he's not in the legislature. Rep. George Rauscher drove about 7000 miles in his Jeep campaigning in his huge Southcentral district.  Wasilla's Rep. David Wilson doesn't seem to like talking to the media.  Nothing huge here, but reminders that our legislators are not cartoon stereotypes, but real human beings trying to make a difference.

Yes, there should be more in depth articles about legislation that help spell it out for average folks, but I'm guessing far more readers will read this piece than more penetrating news on what they are and aren't doing in Juneau.

It's Called, "From Here to the Future: Transforming Anchorage/Mat-Su Transportation"

This guy will talk tonight (Wednesday, March 21) in Anchorage.

Technology + Demographics + TransportationRollin Stanley, General Manager Urban Strategy, City of CalgaryWednesday, March 22nd, 7-8:30 pmAnchorage Museum Auditorium, 625 C St, Anchorage
Suggested $10 donation

This talk is about demographic trends, the importance of empowering women to help economies, and the future of cities.  I expect tonight's talk will be a little different.  This the beginning of a series on Transportation that Alaska Common Ground is sponsoring.

Cable Car Museum

We took the cousins - our grandkids - to the cable car museum yesterday.  It's a free museum housed in the Washington/Mason cable car barn.

Most impressive are the active winding wheels that pull the cables.

There's a brief explanation of how cable cars work here on the museum site.

And here's a cable car on a very level portion of the ride.

There's more, but have been walking around San Francisco with grandkids in tow.  Sometimes on my shoulders.  There was an interesting set of posters in the museum about how the mayor in 1947 was planning to do away with the cable cars until some women got together and got a ballot initiative to prevent that.  I'll give more detail on that because it has important lessons for people today.  We even had some playtime at the Joe DiMaggio recreation center playground.

We Can't Save Your Planet And Other Signs Of LA

Perhaps the most ominous sign I saw in LA was this one:

More encouraging was this one by the rack of Santa Monica community bicycles.  It's a little steeper price than in Paris.  I need to read more details.  I don't think there are as many bike racks either, but then Santa Monica doesn't have near the population density that Paris has.

And the new bus route that Santa Monica added to get people to the new Metro station has a bus stop very close to my mom's place.  We tend to take the bus to and from the airport, but that leaves us with a mile walk.  In fact there was no bus less than a mile away.  This new route connects us to the one to the airport with just a short walk.

And when we got to the airport shuttle, there was this giant billboard across the street.  Cynical me wanted to check to see if this billboard was pure Doublespeak or was reasonably close to what the proposition does.

Ballotpedia says:

"A "yes" vote supports regulating drug prices by requiring state agencies to pay no more than the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pays for prescription drugs.
A "no" vote opposes this measure to require state agencies to pay no more than the VA pays for prescription drugs."

It also says the Prop 61 campaign is likely to be the most expensive in US  on record with the drug companies spending $109 million so far to defeat it.

"The top ten donors to No on 61 are all pharmaceutical companies or companies with interests in the pharmaceutical drug industry. Over 99 percent of contributions to Californians for Lower Drug Prices came from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Polls indicate that support for Proposition 61 to be around 57 percent."

So folks, since the aliens can't save our planet, I guess we need to do it ourselves.

Paris Walkability - Off The Chart [Updated]

Most subway cars I've ever been on have signs that mark all the stops.  But this Paris subway car had a sign with each stop lit up. Once you left the stop, the light went out and the next stop blinked. It was extremely easy to see were you were, where you'd been, and how far you were from your own stop. Note: we only saw one train that had this sort of sign, but over all getting about Paris is incredibly easy.

The metro cars in some cases come minutes apart. There are buses that crisscross the city too. Wherever you are you aren't more than - I'm not sure but our experience has been less than half a mile from a metro or subway stop.

This platform has glass walls so you can't fall onto the tracks, though  most  stations don't.  They have this in Singapore too.










I'm doing this post just because it's been so very easy to get around, something other places should emulate. The sidewalks are good with lots to see and there are many bigger, non-sidewalk areas to walk.




We got on this car near the beginning of the route, which is why it's so empty, but we've gotten seats on every ride.

So while I really just want to get something up here, so I can explore more, I did check on walkability scores and found this website.

It seems most of the sites focus on the US, but this one allowed you to write in any city anywhere.  But I couldn't find a way to do Paris as a whole.  This one picked a specific neighborhood.  I'm not sure all of Paris would have been quite this high.

If you click on the map, you'll get to the Walk Score website.





[UPDATE NOON August 20, 2016 (Paris time)I should add another point - the bike's available all over town.  We've seen them, but I'm only just checking how they work now.  You can get a year pass, a seven day pass, or a one day pass.  We might try that today, but I need to see if they come with locks.  We may try this today because my own walkability is being affected by a flare up of my old heel problems.  The picture below is from the other day.]

No, No, No - Bragaw Extension Won't Get People To Emergency Room Faster [UPDATED - 13 New Emergency Rooms For Prov]

[May 24, 2016 - See today's article on Providence getting 13 new emergency rooms after battle with Regional Hospital to see more reason why Providence is behind this money getting back into the budget.]

Here's the letter to the editor* that inspired this post:

"U-Med road would be a lifesaver
The U-Med road is the one thing that absolutely will save lives. Providence hospital sits right in the middle of this road. If you ever had to get there because of illness or heart attack like me, every second counts. Shortening the amount of time it takes to get to the hospital could save more lives. The money once was already appropriated for this road but the mayor wanted it for the black hole also known as the port. Now the money is there again for this much needed project but guess what? The mayor talks about the deficit and wants this project blocked again for his friends, but at the same time he is in the capital asking for over $200 million for the port. We have already spent hundreds of millions of dollars at the port and there is nothing to show for it. I know where it went, but shhhh — they don’t want you to know. — Richard Wooten Anchorage"

*[not sure people without an ADN subscription can use this link (let me know if it works for you), but you've got the whole letter above.]

I'm sorry to hear about Mr. Wooten's illness and hope he's better.  But his having been sick doesn't change the actual facts.  It just distorts his interpretation of them.  That's understandable, but policy decisions need look at the big picture.  There are lots of questions to raise about this letter, but let's just focus on the "Lifesaver" story.

First,  nowadays, we have ambulances with technology that allows the paramedics to start treatment before they get to the hospital.  Here's an Edmonton story about their $3.3 million (Canadian) stroke ambulances.  But then they have long rides bringing people in from rural areas.  That's not an issue that this road would fix.  But their ambulances might.  You could get five of them for the initial cost of the minimum sized road.  That doesn't account for later expansion beyond a two lane road or maintenance of the road - funding that wasn't provided for.

Second,  it's not the road that matters, but a host of other issues that get ambulances to people on time and then to the closest hospital.  This article discusses some of the turf battles and other administrative issues that cost lives.

Third, and most significant in this case, there's another hospital north of Providence, where patients would be coming from to use this road.   Why do ambulances coming from the north even have to go to Providence?  Alaska Regional is a short distance to the north of Providence and if time is of the essence, the ambulance should go there.

Let's look at the map.

Screen shot, with additions, from Google (click to focus)

To the north, circled in red, is Alaska Regional Hospital.  To the south, circled in blue, is Providence. Google says they are 2.9 miles apart via Lake Otis (blue route) and 3.1 miles apart via Bragaw (gray route.)  Nine minutes either way.

I've added in an extension to Bragaw in red to Providence from Bragaw and Northern Lights.  It wouldn't be significantly shorter than the gray existing route.

People on the Lake Otis route won't be affected because the new road would be longer for them.

Most of the area around there is wooded parkland.  There are some health agencies along Northern Lights and East High at the corner of Northern Lights and Bragaw.  East High is probably right in the middle between the two hospitals.  That would make it, by Google's time estimate, about 4 minutes and 30 seconds from either hospital.  Anyone north of East High is probably closer to Regional Hospital.

This road isn't about saving lives.  I suspect it's really about Providence's need to dominate the Alaska health care world.  Getting one more road close by is part of a much bigger strategy.  They've already gotten 40th Avenue pushed through and paid for by the State.  They've got lots of other roads wandering through their ever-expanding campus.

The letter writer doesn't mention that all the community councils in the area are strongly opposed to the road.  Nor does he mention all the reasons why they are opposed, not the least of which is the cutting through the last big tract of unbroken land that's used for recreation by people and for living by wildlife.

I'd bet that a road through there might cost more lives by adding traffic past East High than it would save by getting people to the hospital faster.   There's no proof this road would save lives.  The map plus the changes in ambulance technology, plus the existence of Regional to the north, all suggest that this road would not save any lives.  Unless Providence just wants the ambulances from the north to pass by Regional.  But even then, the new road would be marginally shorter than the existing road.  

And the port?  Mayor Berkowitz inherited that problem. Sheffield may have wasted tens of millions, maybe even hundreds of millions, but that doesn't mean the port should be abandoned. It still needs to be fixed.

And that funding the writer mentions, was snuck into the budget in the closing hours of the last session without any hearings or opportunity to remove it against the wishes of the legislators from the U-Med district.

The Modern Family

I'm at the living room table at my Macbook.

My daughter is on the couch with her Macbook.

My son-in-law is in the easy chair with his iPad.

And I can see my wife in the kitchen with her iPad.

My granddaughter is in bed.   She doesn't have an electronic device.  She's been delighted with the
old phone we found in the garage.

I guess in a different era, after saying all we wanted to say to each other, we'd be watching television or reading.

But we did get a lot of things done today.  Couple of trips to the thrift shop to drop things off.  Got the picture back from the framer.  Got rid of some stuff on FreeCycleand found a a stroller there to use while my granddaughter is here.  Dug out the flower bed where the plumber thinks the roots are getting into the pipe, then he came over to dig further.  Talked to the IRS this morning, after a 40 minute wait, only to be told that because I didn't have my CAF number, she couldn't talk to me.  Mind you, I've spoken to IRS agents on the phone seven or more times this year and none has refused to talk to me without my giving them the CAF number.  They've checked the computer records and saw I had the right to talk to them about my mom's account and they talked to me.  The only thing Ms. Rutherford let slip today was that she could see I had a CAF number.  Actually, I don't believe I ever got anything telling me what it was.  For 2014 an agent got oral permission from my mom back in January I believe for me to represent her and he wrote that into the record.  And he told me to apply for 2015.  But for this year no one ever told me the number.  And no one has ever used that to not talk to me before.  I tried to call back, but got the recording that they were busy and to call back another day.  That's just a little bit of the day's chores.

There was also a rather frightening incident where I was trying to make a left turn.  I'd eased out to the center when there were no cars coming from my left, and was waiting for a clearing on the other side of the street.  A car appeared on the left and didn't see me until very late and slammed on the brakes and stopped about three feet from me.  My passenger thought he'd been texting and looked up and saw me. I know if he was looking where he was going, he should have seen me there long before he braked.  Cars on the other side then stopped and waved me on to make my left turn.  If he had waited another two seconds to look up and brake, I'd probably not be writing this now.  I just sat there watching the car come at me.  I couldn't go forward into the traffic.  I guess I could have jumped onto the passenger's lap, but I don't think I had time to get out of the seatbelt and do that.  And would being further from the impact location make up for not having my seatbelt on?  I didn't think of any of this until hours later.  I wasn't scared at the time.  I just watched it as though I wasn't involved. But later the awareness of how close I was to a life altering event broke through.  I'm a pretty careful driver, but I put myself into a vulnerable spot trying to make that left turn.  We put our trust in other drivers every time we're on the road, but how we drive increases or decreases our risks as well.  All this is to say, readers, drive with care.  Go a little out of your way rather than make difficult turns on busy streets.

The very best part of the day was I a ten minute conversation in gibberish with my granddaughter.  It was a back and forth exchange of nonsense sentences with intonations that made them into declarative sentences and questions, expressed surprise or mock disagreement.  There were smiles, serious expressions, and lots of laughter.  So much fun.  A wonderful reason to be careful and stay alive and mobile.

[Sorry for those seeing this reposted - Feedburner problems again. This seems to be a morning problem.]

No Kill, No Catch Mouse Trap And Other Maintenance Adventures

Living would be truly great if one didn't have to spend so much time just keeping things maintained.  But such isn't the case.  While the film festival was going on, we are also trying to maintain, and in some cases, even get ahead.

First issue was health.  Our granddaughter shared her cold/cough with us when we saw her over Thanksgiving.  It wasn't debilitating, but it sure was persistent.  You can tell how the news infiltrates our minds by the metaphor I started using.  My body is mostly back to normal, but there are still insurgents hiding, taking advantage of any weak points they can find.  Fortunately for you, the Film Festival kept me too busy to do a post on phlegm.

Last week we had the plumber out because the upstairs thermostat wasn't working.  He fixed that, but while he was here he noticed a leak in the new water heater that he installed in September.  (It's good to have the same guy come out.)  The good news is that it's tiny and not urgent so it doesn't have to be done immediately.  The better news is that it's still under warranty for parts AND labor.  It's good to have honest workers.  He could have overlooked it, but he didn't.

While I was cleaning things up (what I do instead of looking for something, which always leads to frustration because I never find it;  but if I clean up, I'll find other things and get something done even if I don't find what I was looking for), I found the notice we got from Subaru last July saying the passenger airbag on J's car needed to be replaced but they don't have the parts yet and will notify us when they do.  It's almost six months now.  What originally caught my attention was the part that said

". . .the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death."

So I called the number and asked why, almost six months later I hadn't gotten a new notice, that it's really a hassle not letting anyone sit in the passenger seat.   He got me a name and number of the local Subaru dealer.  The dealer set up an appointment for January (since it was going to take a week or more to get the part and we're headed out of town.)  But they called back later that day, and today J took her car in and got the new airbag.

I picked up some copies of Peter Dunlap-Shohl's My Degeneration at Blue.Holloman gallery at 36th and Arctic, and I'll do a post on that book before too long.  Peter's been blogging about his Parkinson's adventure for years now, rendering it something like a superhero comic book about fighting the forces of his disease.  You can see parts of it at his blog Off and On: The Alaska Parkinson's Rag  which I've had in my Alaska Blogs list on the right for a long time now.  It's a great book for anyone with Parkinson's and probably better for the people around them, who are trying to figure out what's going on.

I bought a mouse trap.  I'm calling it my No Kill - No Catch trap.  There's a very cute mouse who's moved in and runs around the living room and kitchen, and sometimes goes downstairs.  So far, I haven't had my camera handy when I've seen him and he moves pretty fast.

Every website about catching mice said to use peanut butter.  We only had almond butter and maybe that's too healthy.

The closest I've gotten to capturing him on the camera are footprints in the snow.  But I'm not really sure if these are mice or not or how he gets from outside to inside.  Maybe he opens the sliding glass door to let his friends in when we're out.

I've been trying to spend at least 30 minutes a day going through the boxes I throw things in to clean up when company's coming.  When they're in the boxes it seems easier to go through them and toss things or put other things where they belong.  My mom's house is a great incentive to clean up here.

And I'm looking forward to 2016 because I bought this planner that appealed to my current mood.

For each week, it's got a page with the following categories:

• Things I have to do but that can wait a day, or two, or three ...

• Small things I have to do before I can do the big things I have to do

• Things I absolutely have to do unless I absolutely don't want to do them

• Things people have been bugging me to do for a really long time

I'll let you know how it works out.

[Sorry for reposting - more Feedburner problems]