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Japan Vacation
One month after the earthquake and tsunami devastated northern Honshu, we headed for Japan. It was still too early for amateurs like us to assist with relief efforts, but it wasn’t too early to help the Japanese economy with tourism dollars, which went much further than usual due to the empty hotels and flights. When I asked my parents if they wanted to go with us, my dad was at first worried about radiation, but I pointed out that at his age, it really didn’t matter, and besides, radiation levels in Tokyo were lower after the Fukushima Daichi failure than they were around the world during the 60s with all of the open air atomic testing. Sure there were forecasts for large aftershocks in Tokyo, but then again, the big one is also due in Seattle, and I would much rather be in Tokyo than Seattle for a major earthquake. We had a great time showing my parents Kobe, Himej-jo, Kyoto, and Tokyo.
Our travel included a lot of trips on great commuter trains and a couple of trips on real high-speed rail. The amazing part was that each shinkansen was hauling about 750 riders each, and there was one about every 15 minutes between Osaka and Tokyo. You definitely won’t see that level of traffic between Chicago and St. Louis.
Click for more photos
Seafood Arguing in Kyoto
Track of Dreams
President Obama must believe that if he builds it, they will come. That is the only way that he could conjure up the ridership numbers to justify his high speed rail funding proposal which includes $244,000,000 for upgraded service between Chicago and Detroit and $1,133,000,000 for upgraded service between Chicago and St. Louis. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-vice-president-biden-announce-8-billion-high-speed-rail-projects-ac) This proposal has to be about home state politics, because there is no way the ridership would justify the expenditure. Perhaps he should first concentrate on real high speed rail along the more densely populated east coast.
Build It and They Will Come; That Is, If You Let Them Park Near the Station
Seattle now has light rail from the airport to downtown, with one stop in the middle of nowhere in Tukwilla and several more in the rough neighborhoods of Rainier Valley. While Tukwilla has a 600 car parking lot (1/2 the size needed), the city made a conscious decision to ban commercial parking lots and parking by non-residents in the neighborhoods near the other stations to encourage the building of mixed-use apartment complexes near the stations. It even took out two blocks of on-street parking to put in a bike lane, even though there is a dedicated bike trail one block away that parallels the route and nobody ever rides their bicycle on the street. With the economic downturn, almost all of the mixed-use projects are on hold, and even when they are built, that won’t help people like Mrs. Pinky, who would much rather park and ride to her new job than add one more vehicle to the highway and downtown congestion. The light rail ridership is well below projections, so the mayor has temporarily stopped enforcing the ban on non-resident parking in the adjacent neighborhoods and authorized businesses with existing lots to sell a limited number of parking spots. Mrs. Pinky is on the waiting list for the lot near our station, and Mr. Pinky is still playing chauffer to and from the station.
Mrs. Pinky Has a New Job
Despite high unemployment rates, Mrs. Pinky landed an executive assistant position with a rapidly growing startup biotech company. The hiring process was brutal, and included four rounds of interviews, with three candidates making it to the final round. It is exciting getting ready for an IPO, but also a lot of work and long, tiring days. Mr. Pinky misses coming home to Mrs. Pinky’s cooking.
More Bad Transportation Planning
The Alaskan Way Viaduct along Seattle’s waterfront is an eyesore that is just waiting for the next earthquake to fall down. The city and state have come up with a plan to replace it with a deep bore tunnel and are moving ahead with construction. The first problem is that there will be no exits into downtown, which were the main reason to take the viaduct. This shortcoming will force more vehicles onto the already overcrowded HWY 5, which isn’t getting $2B for additional lanes. Second, what are the odds of the tunneling machine getting stuck in the mixed soils under Seattle or some other cost over-run on such a large project? I would much rather spend the money on more light rail, light rail parking, and HWY 5 capacity, and just get rid of the viaduct.
Home Phone Service; Who Needs It?
Faced with the exorbitant pricing of either Qwest/CenturyLink or Comcast/XFinity, we have opted for neither. For routine calls, our cell phones are quite adequate, and for international or conference calling, Google Voice/Chat is proving quite adequate. There is now a Snowflake microphone perched atop Mrs. Pinky’s monitor for just such use.
The Distortions of Our Current Medical Insurance System
In December, Pinky began having issues with his right arm that he originally believed to be a pinched nerve in his shoulder. His primary care physician referred him for x-rays, which were unremarkable, and diagnosed a pinched nerve in his neck. Off to physical therapy, but after three months of insurance funded physical therapy, the situation had deteriorated significantly. Pinky then visited a massage therapist that identified trigger points in his back that produced the same radiating, pinched nerve sensations. While insurance doesn’t cover massage therapy, Pinky fired the physical therapist and began regular visits to a massage therapist that is a former football player. Over the next few months, he made immense progress, but one small muscle refused to release. In desperation, Pinky went to a chiropractor, who after much insurance funded silliness cracked his neck and back. The next day, the last offending muscle was relaxed and all pinched nerve sensations were gone. Pinky declined insurance funded maintenance visits to the chiropractor, but continues with monthly visits to Richard the massage therapist. The out of pocket expenses would have been far less to continue with the incompetent physical therapy and equally ineffective surgery, but the alternative medical treatment was worth the cost.
Mini Vacation to the central Cascades near Leavenworth
Leavenworth. The next day, we embarked on a hike up the beautiful Snow Lakes Trail climbing up from Icicle Creek up to the Enchantments. Tired from the climbing, and having botched the alarm clock settings, we got a late start and didn’t leave the trail head until 0900. After six hours of hiking covering 9.5 miles horizontal and gaining one mile of elevation, we stopped to assess the situation. It was probably 20 to 30 more minutes to the pass, we hadn’t brought enough electrolytes, and had also not kept up with the needed calorie intake. If we kept going, we wouldn’t get back in time for a dip in the hot tub and a real dinner before the restaurants closed. With a clear goal in mind, we headed back down the mountain wondering why we were so far from a good beer.
Paint Disposal
Our House came with a closet full of paint cans. It was only after closing that we were able to determine that half of them had nothing to do with the current paint scheme of the house. It turns out that you can’t even give paint away, and that the only way to dispose of it is to dry it out and send it to the landfill. A children’s wading pool worked great for drying, but some of the neighbors, knowing that we don’t have children, were a bit baffled as to what we were up to.
Fast and Furious
I continue to be baffled by the ATF’s operation to allow straw buyers to purchase weapons and then follow the weapons to find the major players. The only problem was that they didn’t tell their Mexican counterparts, and the ATF doesn’t have a presence in Mexico, so when the weapons reached the border, they just disappeared until they were recovered later at a crime scene. Huh? Are the senior personnel really that stupid, or was this part of an agenda to justify further gun control? (On numerous occasions, gun shop owners reported suspicious purchasers and were told by the ATF to allow the transactions.) When it comes to Eric Holder, the questions from the Nixon investigation come to mind; what did he know, and when did he know it? Why are the people that authorized such a criminally incompetent program still working for the ATF and DOJ, and why aren’t they facing criminal charges. (Unfortunately, there isn’t a charge for felony stupidity, but accessory to murder seems appropriate.)
Seattle / Portland Weather
If you read the Portlandia Update below, this just seems appropriate
Government Stimulus and Green Jobs
Harsh criticism of a government subsidy of green jobs from a green technology web site:
http://www.cleantechblog.com/2011/09/omg-solyndras-dead-how-much-is-this-going-to-cost-whom.html
– It would have been more helpful for US solar PV production to challenge China on their much larger subsidies, than to go half-in on ours.
– Being a high cost producer of what is essentially a commodity product is not a viable business strategy.
The Pinky Update 