Posted inRecreation

Our weirdly bad Caravan Tour experience at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Understand: except for one experience, my wife and I loved our recent visit to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. But that One Experience was so irritating, I jumped at the chance to complain about it when an emailed visitor satisfaction survey arrived in my inbox today. I've done some Googling to see if anyone else who took a Safari Tour to see animals in the quasi-wild from the back of an open-sided truck had ever experienced the weird event we, and the other people on our Caravan Tour, did.  Didn't find anything.  So it may well be that our…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Publicly defend your incompetent president, Trump voters

With every passing day, Donald Trump's astounding incompetency to serve as President becomes more obvious. His lies, blunders, and disrespect for the office he won with the aid of Russian meddling in the 2016 election make it perfectly clear that Trump is on track to be the worst president in our nation's history. His dismal approval rating, 43% as of yesterday, is an accurate reflection of the low regard most Americans have for our Idiot In Chief. By comparison, Barack Obama had an 62% approval rating by March of his first term in office.  I proudly voted for Hillary Clinton.…
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Posted inHome life

I hate it when my wife is right (also, I love it)

The roofing company guys took a look at our leaking roof while my wife, Laurel, was away. Then I took the dog for a walk. When I came home, Laurel had returned. She asked, "How did the roof inspection turn out?" I said, "I've got some disturbing news about that. Well, more accurately the news is disturbing for me. You were right." Now, I readily admit this is a common occurrence for me, as it is for all husbands. When we disagree about something, especially when it involves our home, my wife often is right. (She'd substitute usually for often,…
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Posted inSalem

Read my expose of the City of Salem’s Park Front LLC urban renewal grant

Over on my Salem Political Snark blog I've posted an in-depth critique of how City officials handled a large grant to T.J. Sullivan (an ex-city councilor and current Chamber of Commerce vice-president): "Disturbing facts revealed about $749,000 Park Front urban renewal grant." Here's how the post starts out. You can read my entire Investigative Blogging Masterpiece by clicking on the image below.-------------------------- After making a public records request to the City of Salem for documents related to approval of the $749,000 Park Front LLC grant, and reviewing what I got, I'm even more disturbed by how this grant request was…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Let’s make Salem an island of sanity in an increasingly crazy country

We're one week into four years of a Trump presidency. If the trend line of Crazy continues, it will be so far off the charts I'm worried our United States will disintegrate into a tangled mass of splintered humanity, with most people saddened, angered, and frustrated, and a minority cheering the arrival of whatever disastrous future Trump's barely-there mind envisions for our country. When I wake up in the middle of the night and start worrying about what kind of hellscape awaits our nation, the only thought that calms my frazzled psyche is this: Here in Salem, we can be…
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Posted inSalem

Downtown Salem Streetscape project would transform the Historic District

Following up on a recent post, "Big bold exciting idea: Streetscape downtown Salem!", I've made a web page with Adobe Spark that showcases the streetscape plan developed by Carole Smith, Eric Kittleson, Susan Kay Huston, and Alan Costic about five years ago. That plan, which was enthusiastically received by Salem citizens, was shelved -- as so many good ideas often are after first being introduced. Thankfully, efforts to make downtown more attractive, economically vibrant, and pedestrian/cyclist friendly through streetscaping have been revived. I used images and words provided by Smith and Huston as a foundation for this overview of the…
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Posted inHome life

WheelCheck iPhone app proved my new tires weren’t balanced correctly

I didn't really expect there would be an iPhone app that would tell me if my new set of winter tires/wheels were out of balance. But I searched anyway. And there was!  WheelCheck. It was produced by some German guys. They have a web site in English, and they responded promptly when I emailed them with some questions about my WheelCheck results. So I'm really happy that I spent a whole 99 cents to buy the app. Here's why I needed it. I bought a 2017 GTI last November, a great car that I'm super pleased with. It came with…
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Posted inSalem

Big bold exciting idea: Streetscape downtown Salem!

Imagine, dream, envision... how much more vibrant Salem's Historic District would be if the downtown area was a People Magnet. Drawn in by wide sidewalks, two lane streets, water features, abundant greenery, safe bike lanes, outdoor dining, and an overall focus on encouraging pedestrians to stay, rather than speeding traffic to somewhere else, both Salem visitors and residents would say "This is a way-cool downtown; I'm coming back soon." It can happen: a general vision for Streetscaping downtown was developed several years ago. Now this is being shared by Salem Community Vision in several recent posts. (See here and here.)…
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Posted inEntertainment Family

“La La Land” — inspiration for rebels and fools who dream

My wife and I saw "La La Land" on Christmas Eve. Great movie. I'm a sucker for films about people chasing their impossible dreams, facing down their fears and insecurities, being kicked in the butt by life then turning around to ask for more.  Watching the climactic scenes of La La Land, I was moved by how dedicated jazz musician Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and aspiring actress Mia (Emma Stone) pursued their passions in the face of daunting obstacles.  At one point I remember thinking to myself in the darkened movie theatre, "I want to be like them!"  Then a second…
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Posted inHome life Neighborhood

Why two inches of snow can be a big deal here in western Oregon

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. So in this blog post I'll be sharing photos of how my wife and I have been dealing with, and enjoying, a seemingly minor storm that dropped two inches of snow out here in rural south Salem. I italicized "seemingly" because people from cold-weather states who make fun of how us Willamette Valley Oregonians panic over snow that they'd consider a dusting don't realize that our snow here usually isn't like their snow there.  This photo was taken today on a dog walk that led the family canine and I…
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Posted inEntertainment

“Plaid Tidings” at Grand Theatre: meaningful fun escapism

Ever ready to accept free tickets, I jumped at the offer by Enlightened Theatics' Carlos Barata to see their current Plaid Tidings production gratis in exchange for a blog post review.  In case you're wondering whether what I'll say here is colored by the hue of those two $25 tickets, I reply: "Of course it is! I will add in one extra laudatory adjective beyond what I would have written otherwise, because I want to assure other entertainment enterprises in Salem that, yes, my blogging can be bought in exchange for free tickets. However, you won't get much in return,…
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Posted inStreetStrider

Buy the Streetstrider 8r I donated to The Northwest Hub

For about three years I've been riding my Streetstrider outdoor elliptical bike at Minto Brown park several times a week. I've gotten countless (more or less) smiles, thumbs-up, and positive comments: "Cool!" "Looks like fun!" "I want one!" Well, that I want one sentiment is now much more easily within grasp. I've donated my yellow 8-speed Streetstrider to The Northwest Hub, a not-for-profit community bicycle co-op here in Salem. So here's your chance to get a great deal on my 3-year-old Streetstrider AND help out The Northwest Hub, a Salem organization that enables low-income and no-income people to own a…
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Posted inBooks Family

My memories of growing up with books in the 1950’s and 60’s

Listen up, you youngsters who read blog posts like this (if you exist): an old man is going to tell some tales of what it was like in the Old Days when books -- yes, books, of the paper variety -- were way more important in people's lives than they are now.  These memories were stimulated by the donation I made today of eight boxes containing 201 books to the Friends of Salem Public Library.  Needing to downsize my collection, I spent quite a bit of time culling through a bunch of books, deciding which of them I'd fallen sufficiently…
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Posted inHome life

I’m glad I sold my Mini Cooper to CarMax

Being the age I am (68), I've bought and sold quite a few cars over the years. I've found that buying is more pleasant than selling, especially now. New car dealerships increasingly have a fixed or no-haggle price. When I bought my 2011 Mini Cooper S in Portland, Oregon, I was told there was only one possible price: MSRP.  OK. I wanted the Mini. I paid that price. Simple. Similarly, when I recently decided that a 2017 VW GTI should enter my driving life, replacing the Mini, I was told that the VW dealer here in Salem (Lithia Motors) has…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Family

Clinton’s election-eve campaign speech reminded me of how far women have come

Driving home from my Tai Chi class tonight, my election-obsessed brain caused my fingers to choose the MSNBC button on my car's satellite radio rather than the Chill or Classic Vinyl music stations that ordinarily attract me. I heard President Obama's voice.  He was speaking at one of Hillary Clinton's final campaign events, a 40,000 person rally in Philadelphia. Obama was inspiring. Obama strongly urged people to get out and vote tomorrow. Naturally, for Clinton. Then Clinton took the stage. You can hear part of what she said in the video below. What moved me was how positive she was,…
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Posted inHome life

Why my wife’s “That’s not realistic” drives movie-watching-me crazy

I'm curious if anyone else has this problem with their significant other, or if -- on a planet with over 7 billion people -- I just happen to be married to the only person in the world who habitually (and repeatedly!) blurts out "That's not realistic" while we're watching a movie at home. This drives me crazy, because I have a totally normal approach to movies: aside from documentaries, they're escapes from the real world.  If I want to view life as it is really is, that's easy. I just go out and about in the world as usual. Movies…
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Posted inHome life Retirement community

Why it makes sense for seniors to postpone living in a retirement community

My wife and I are in our late 60's. For 26 years we've lived in a 3,200 square foot house on ten non-easycare acres in rural south Salem, Oregon. We've visited four retirement communities in the northwest, and browsed numerous others online. It's tough for seniors to decide when to leave a beloved home because it's become too damn difficult to maintain. Various factors enter into that decision: health status, where children and other family members are living, how attached one is to a current location -- all kinds of stuff. We've mulled over the reasons to stay where we…
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Posted inSalem

“How Can Salem Become a Strong Town?” — October 5 Chuck Marohn talk

I'm really looking forward to this free talk by Strong Towns founder Chuck Marohn. Put it on your Must Attend list for October 5. I'm pleased that Salem Community Vision is supporting this event (I'm a member of the SCV steering committee). It took us about zero seconds to decide to do this. Chuck Marohn is an energetic, creative, thoughtful advocate for the sorts of positive changes that need to happen in Salem. Salem Weekly has a good story about the Strong Towns talk in its current issue. Check out "Reimagining Salem as a Strong Town." This is how the…
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Posted inEntertainment Home life

Pac-12 Networks now on Sling TV. Because of me! (I like to think)

I DID IT! (in my magical thinking brain, at least) Just five days after my annual blog post rant about DirecTV not carrying the Pac-12 Networks -- and the Pac-12 Networks not being offered on any streaming service -- today a deal has been announced between Sling TV and the Pac-12 Networks.  SAN FRANCISCO– Pac-12 Networks announced today a new agreement with Sling TV to make all six Pac-12 Networks regional feeds, which collectively offer live coverage of more than 800 sporting events, available to Sling Orange and Sling Blue customers who subscribe to the “Sports Extra” add-on pack as…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Follow FiveThirtyEight and PredictWise to stay presidential-poll sane

For political junkies like me, it's easy to go a little (or a lot) crazy during the excruciatingly long presidential campaign season -- becoming joyful when a chosen candidate (Clinton, in my case) is ascendent in the polls, and despondent when a downturn happens. Here's my advice about how to handle this: Follow the best poll analyzer around, FiveThirtyEight, Nate Silver's operation. After he left the New York Times, Silver and Co. branched out into analyzing sports and other areas. But politics, not surprisingly, is his emphasis at the moment. I follow FiveThirtyEight on Twitter and enjoy his highly competent…
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