RantWoman's friend who got hit by the car is doing phenomenally. Broken bones are healing nicely. Physical, speech, occupational therapy are all making a difference. RantWoman's friend is blessed both by a huge stream of wonderful friends and an almost indomitable sense of humor in the face of numerous necessary medical intrusions and inconveniences.
Still, RantWoman's friend who got hit by the car is not going to be out in our incredible shrinking daylight very much anytime soon. This post is for the rest of us, the ones of us who ride the bus, walk, who do not want to be fenced in just because the weather is threatening to achieve its usual autumnal sogginess and who most assuredly do want to try to prepare for what comes.
A cool item from the City of Seattle website, rediscovered because RantWoman consulted an actual artifact, a reflectorized zipper pull she stuck on one of her jackets a couple years ago. RantWoman was hoping to acquire more of these actual artifacts. Alas the webpage is from a project that ended quite awhile ago but did leave behind some excellent pedestrian safety info in several languages.
http://www.pedestrianreflectors.com/
A wonderful website full of nerdy statistics and excellent reflectorized gear, as well as many topical links. As an added bonus, this site has frequent references to Finland, a country RantWoman's friend and family returned from visiting just a few days before her accident. Even if now is not your first choice for going to Finland, hang some Finnish glow-in-the-dark animals off your clothing!
http://www.pedsafe.com/
Another really fun site with great copy, at least on the home page. Several other pages appear to be under construction. Also, the site designer really needs to pay better attention to visual contrast.
http://www.pedestrianreflectors.com/
Another site oriented toward kids, but RantWoman suggests borrowing a kid and getting some that match for kids and grownups alike
http://www.finnishgifts.com/unikko-reflectors.html
A company more or less just down the road. Website has some eccentricities for screen reader users. Some pages are fine. Others not so much. Sigh. Excellent mix of lights, reflectors, items RantWoman can happily inflict on several wheelchair users she knows exist on city streets after dark as hulging invisible masses. Also a cool hat if RantWoman decides to do actual hat rather than hatband for her numerous other hats.
http://pedigreen.com/?gclid=COH_39G9l50CFSFRagodWzur_Q
(RantWoman thinks she has about spent enough time shopping and not getting anything bought. For future reference, "pedestrian reflectors" seems to be a fruitful search phrase.)
Some other previous whines, kvetches, fantasies, and raves from RantWoman.
http://rantwoman.blogspot.com/2009/08/hey-who-took-my-daylight-away-and-now.html
http://rantwoman.blogspot.com/2009/04/mail-order.html
http://rantwoman.blogspot.com/2009/02/make-me-glow.html
While RantWoman is in Fantasyland, she must confess to another fixation. RantWoman knows that running shoes and some other footwear come with reflectors of various sorts sewn in. RantWoman though has footwear envy: RantWoman secretly envies all the children she sees with footwear with flashing lights in it! RantWoman is not sure "business casual" covers shoes with flashing lights in them, but if such footwear were available in RantWoman sizes, RantWoman would be more than happy to give it a try. She would though like sensible white and low-key for dress shoe occasions such as the symphony.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
A one-seat ride
RantWoman and RantMom went to the Symphony this weekend! RantMom scored tickets in connection with one of her volunteer gigs. The Symphony is firmly tied in both RantMom's and RantWoman's heads with the best parts of younger family life, including for instance RantWoman's musician father. The experience definitely lived up to all the wonderful background evoked.
Over time despite modest circumstances, RantWoman has gone to several different events at Benaroya and has yet to have a bad seat. In this case the performance was also exquisite. Alas, this post is about transit matters, not a concert review.
The question: bus or light rail? RantMom lives near Rainier, about halfway between the Columbia City stop and the MountBaker stop. Riding Link downtown really does not make sense as long as the faithful 7 rolls as frequently as it does. Coming home? Ummmmm.....
Going downtown, RantWoman and RantMom met at our connecting bus stop having both without conferring in advance dressed in the same colors, red and black, striking for the symphony but no darn good at all as far as visibility after dark. More on that in a moment.
Downtown, we joined a whole stream of concertgoers from our bus stop. We did not trip over some really steep drops in the aisles. We found our seats and RantWoman tentatively asked RantMom whether she wanted to try the Light Rail home. RantWoman does not know exactly how to connect to the bus tunnel entrance that is right under Benaroya Hall but thought it was eminently doable.
Also doable in RantWoman's head: the walk from the Columbia City station to Rainier to catch an inbound 7. RantWoman was thinking: avoid having to cross Rainier at an intersection she does not like near RantMom's in dark clothing. Not to mention avoid many of the more piquant elements of the number 7 bus on a Saturday night. RantWoman would not have minded being able to let RantMom off and continue toward her stop without fretting about RantMom alone on the bus at night.
Silly RantWoman. Among other points, RantWoman failed to reckon with the fact that the concert would end basically past RantMom's bedtime. RantMom may have expressed slight interest before the concert in the idea of riding the Light Rail home, but after the concert was completely another matter!
We listened attentively. We applauded madly. The hall lights came back up. Here it would have made sense to wait until the crowd cleared and then proceed out the Second Ave side of the hall, but RantMom sprang from her seat and all but sprinted toward the Third Avenue doors.
RantWoman thought mistakenly that there is an elevator from the street at the University Street tunnel entrance, but the door turned out to be some kind of utility access. RantMom does not do escalators, but she peered gamely down three flights of stairs and offered to walk them. No! BAD idea! It would take ALL night. By this time RantMom had all the patience and conversation skills of a very tired child and going down stairs is not one of RantWoman's favorite experiences no matter what and especially not if she is also trying to look out for RantMom. RantWoman demurred! Instead, back across the street. Keep it simple. Just get the bus!
Mercifully, there was only one reeking drunk. No one seemed to be suffering withdrawals from anything. Nor was anyone setting RantWoman's teeth on edge in Spanish. Still, RantWoman stayed on the bus to RantMom's stop, crossed the street with her, gave her a hug and stopped to wait for a bus back toward her place. RantMom promised to try out RantWoman's suggestion sometime during the day.
RantWoman also realized ruefully that if we want to go to the Symphony maybe it makes sense to recruit one of our groupies with a car, either that or figure out how to deal with taxi scrip and waiting half an hour for a cab to show up. But if RantMom is going to score free tickets maybe dealing with a cab is the least RantWoman can do.
Over time despite modest circumstances, RantWoman has gone to several different events at Benaroya and has yet to have a bad seat. In this case the performance was also exquisite. Alas, this post is about transit matters, not a concert review.
The question: bus or light rail? RantMom lives near Rainier, about halfway between the Columbia City stop and the MountBaker stop. Riding Link downtown really does not make sense as long as the faithful 7 rolls as frequently as it does. Coming home? Ummmmm.....
Going downtown, RantWoman and RantMom met at our connecting bus stop having both without conferring in advance dressed in the same colors, red and black, striking for the symphony but no darn good at all as far as visibility after dark. More on that in a moment.
Downtown, we joined a whole stream of concertgoers from our bus stop. We did not trip over some really steep drops in the aisles. We found our seats and RantWoman tentatively asked RantMom whether she wanted to try the Light Rail home. RantWoman does not know exactly how to connect to the bus tunnel entrance that is right under Benaroya Hall but thought it was eminently doable.
Also doable in RantWoman's head: the walk from the Columbia City station to Rainier to catch an inbound 7. RantWoman was thinking: avoid having to cross Rainier at an intersection she does not like near RantMom's in dark clothing. Not to mention avoid many of the more piquant elements of the number 7 bus on a Saturday night. RantWoman would not have minded being able to let RantMom off and continue toward her stop without fretting about RantMom alone on the bus at night.
Silly RantWoman. Among other points, RantWoman failed to reckon with the fact that the concert would end basically past RantMom's bedtime. RantMom may have expressed slight interest before the concert in the idea of riding the Light Rail home, but after the concert was completely another matter!
We listened attentively. We applauded madly. The hall lights came back up. Here it would have made sense to wait until the crowd cleared and then proceed out the Second Ave side of the hall, but RantMom sprang from her seat and all but sprinted toward the Third Avenue doors.
RantWoman thought mistakenly that there is an elevator from the street at the University Street tunnel entrance, but the door turned out to be some kind of utility access. RantMom does not do escalators, but she peered gamely down three flights of stairs and offered to walk them. No! BAD idea! It would take ALL night. By this time RantMom had all the patience and conversation skills of a very tired child and going down stairs is not one of RantWoman's favorite experiences no matter what and especially not if she is also trying to look out for RantMom. RantWoman demurred! Instead, back across the street. Keep it simple. Just get the bus!
Mercifully, there was only one reeking drunk. No one seemed to be suffering withdrawals from anything. Nor was anyone setting RantWoman's teeth on edge in Spanish. Still, RantWoman stayed on the bus to RantMom's stop, crossed the street with her, gave her a hug and stopped to wait for a bus back toward her place. RantMom promised to try out RantWoman's suggestion sometime during the day.
RantWoman also realized ruefully that if we want to go to the Symphony maybe it makes sense to recruit one of our groupies with a car, either that or figure out how to deal with taxi scrip and waiting half an hour for a cab to show up. But if RantMom is going to score free tickets maybe dealing with a cab is the least RantWoman can do.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Shakeup!!!!
RantWoman has waited a few days to comment on the fall bus schedule shakeup, the first wave of bus service changes since the Light Rail opened.
For one thing, the first week or so after shakeups are nightmares for drivers. A lot of the drivers are driving new routes and still checking their directions after every turn. In the best cases, they have reduced interactions with problem routes and days that should be easier, well except for the novice drivers plunked into the problem routes. A lot of them also most assuredly are struggling to find whatever combination of theatrical or preacherly inspiration needed to call even some of the stops.
Next, even under the best circumstances, the traveling public finds zillions of ways to vex even the most friendly, patient, and even saintly cheery extrovert. With major changes in routes all over the south end, almost every trip is pretty much guaranteed to be full of multilingual gasps of surprise when a bus makes an unexpected turn, turns out not to go downtown or arrives with a completely different number than expected. Next there will be a long stream of repetitive questions about where to change to get a bus that really does go downtown, what the new route does, and multiple other questions which may or may not even be on-topic.
RantWoman, as a member of the SE Seattle Transit Connections Sounding Board has been up to her eyeballs about these topics for months, and even RantWoman is finding the changes gut-wrenching.
1. Changing a bus which runs only every 1/2 hour on Sundays such as the northbound 48 so that its schedule is basically off from the previous one by 15 minutes is HUGE. RantWoman is scratching her head about how she is going to adjust her Sunday go to meetin' practices to compensate.
2. RantWoman thinks SoundTransit has made a HUGE mistake in setting fares on Light Rail: RantWoman thinks as a courtesy that Sound Transit fares especially for senior and disabled riders should absolutely not be higher than equivalent routings within Seattle on the bus. This is in fact currently the case. This apparently is temporary and also related to persistent equipment malfunctions but the exact details of it have been badly publicized and this leaves plenty of room for public ire.
Enough people are irate about having to change from a bus to the train to go downtown, about the need for transfers sometimes on both ends of the route, about having some really important bus routes taken away, broken up, or rearranged. There a million other real and perceived forms of disconsideration: lack of ticket instructions in languages other than English, bus stops that do not have the correct numbers listed on the signs, a nightmare when one calls BUSTIME (see below).
RantWoman has spent little time around Light Rail during commuting hours but she has not yet been on a single Light Rail train that was overcrowded. RantWoman quite understands the ire of people who have been paying and paying already through their sales taxes for the Light Rail now being told they have to pay higher fares AND no longer have a bus substitute. In 20 years lots of things will have evolved so Light Rail ridership is more organic, but right now RantWoman would be concerned to make riding easy and to make the advantages of Light Rail more apparent. This does not appear to be happening, and the fare structure would be an easy thing to adjust to quell some of the ire.
3. The public's preference for a single-seat ride instead of multiple transfers that are supposed to lead to short trips seems counterintuitive to transit planners. Perhaps this is because transit planners spend too much time living life in their cars. Consider RantWoman's agenda yesterday afternoon, a stop to the north and then a meeting to the south.
RantWoman has new feline staff. Rantwoman has been trained by previous feline staff to keep things simple: if the feline staff arrives at one's household with certain defined habits about things like flavor of catfood, one's life will be simplest if one just accommodates these preferences even if the preferences come from a store where one shops less often than others. Feline staff was completely out of her preferred supper. Partial compensation for going out of one's way is a selection of things at prices RantWoman is very pleased about--until she thinks about the rest of her agenda and how much she gets to carry around.
RantWoman thought of trying out the wonders of the enhanced 8 schedule for the cat food purchase end of her agenda and then also in a single-seat ride to her other destination. In the end she opted for the 48 + the 2 plus part of her daily quota of walking going there. RantWoman just missed one 2 and was too lazy to walk up the hill. Once RantWoman arrived at the store, she found a number of items she wanted in addition to catfood: eggplant, cantaloupe. There were also a couple items that might sensibly have needed refrigeration except that RantWoman's philosophy about cultured milk products allows for sort of extended gaps in refrigeration on the grounds that the milk is already suffused with desirable fermentation to keep the undesirable fermentation at bay. RantWoman pointedly did not buy a few other things because she did not want to have to lug them around. RantWoman also opted to walk a known distance to the 48 rather than a longer one to the 8.
In a car, RantWoman imagines that purchases plus travel would have taken about 45 minutes including dawdling and additional impulse buys in the store and early evening traffic and parking for the later event. A car owner might even have had time margin to do the shoppng errand AFTER the other event; RantWoman did not, both because of store schedule and because of longer headways on several transit legs of her trip later in the evening. On the bus, it took almost 2 hours. The last leg of the trip would have been faster if RantWoman had wanted to lug her catfood, eggplant, cantaloupe and sundry other items across the street and up to ride one stop on the Light Rail and then lug her purchases 2 blocks from the light rail station to her destination. RantWoman likes the exercise benefits of her lifestyle, but even her enthusiasm has its limits.
Instead, drum roll please, RantWoman visited the forest St. Mount Baker bus facility and lived to tell about it. RantWoman caught the 48 back south and opted to wait for the 8 which stops right across the street from her destination. The downside of this was that RantWoman was a whit too late for the frequent 8 service and had to wait another 15 minutes. The ONLY upside: the 48 and the 8 both stop at the very same bus bay.
RantWoman's destination: an evening with members of the Seattle City Council to listen to people talk about--surprise--transit issues. The evening gets its own rant. RantWoman noted all sorts of warning flashers about approaching trains. She also noted that crossing MLK really does seem like a long walk, even to someone as more or less vigorous as RantWoman. Then it was time for the trip home.
For RantWoman the trip home was a one-seat ride on the 8. Amusingly, despite having gotten off the 8 across the street in the opposite direction, RantWoman had a brief moment of panic because the bus stop sign has not been updated with info about the 8 stopping there.
For amusement, RantWoman called BUSTIME. RantWoman is really glad she was not using daytime minutes to hear a voice chirp at her about looking up needed info on the internet. RantWoman does not have an accessible mobile device on which she might be able to peruse the internet. RantWoman can dial numbers she already knows. RantWoman has many other tirades about this topic. The important thing is the info about the web was irrelevant for RantWoman's situation. Even worse, so was the content of the BusTime info for Route 8. BusTime still had schedule info for the OLD version of the route 8 that stopped on Capitol Hill at that time of night.
The ride home was basically uneventful for RantWoman though not for people used to being able to ride the 42 downtown. The one peculiarity RantWoman is just filing: RantWoman THINKS that other years by this time in September more of the leaves are usually starting to fall off the trees. A lot of the street lighting in Seattle seems to assume this because RantWoman has walked a few different places recently that seem darker to RantWoman than she would like despite the fact that RantWoman can see there are some though not necessarily enough street lights. RantWoman thinks this problem is a lot of leaves on trees but she herself is not really street tree geek enough to do more than note the data points.
For one thing, the first week or so after shakeups are nightmares for drivers. A lot of the drivers are driving new routes and still checking their directions after every turn. In the best cases, they have reduced interactions with problem routes and days that should be easier, well except for the novice drivers plunked into the problem routes. A lot of them also most assuredly are struggling to find whatever combination of theatrical or preacherly inspiration needed to call even some of the stops.
Next, even under the best circumstances, the traveling public finds zillions of ways to vex even the most friendly, patient, and even saintly cheery extrovert. With major changes in routes all over the south end, almost every trip is pretty much guaranteed to be full of multilingual gasps of surprise when a bus makes an unexpected turn, turns out not to go downtown or arrives with a completely different number than expected. Next there will be a long stream of repetitive questions about where to change to get a bus that really does go downtown, what the new route does, and multiple other questions which may or may not even be on-topic.
RantWoman, as a member of the SE Seattle Transit Connections Sounding Board has been up to her eyeballs about these topics for months, and even RantWoman is finding the changes gut-wrenching.
1. Changing a bus which runs only every 1/2 hour on Sundays such as the northbound 48 so that its schedule is basically off from the previous one by 15 minutes is HUGE. RantWoman is scratching her head about how she is going to adjust her Sunday go to meetin' practices to compensate.
2. RantWoman thinks SoundTransit has made a HUGE mistake in setting fares on Light Rail: RantWoman thinks as a courtesy that Sound Transit fares especially for senior and disabled riders should absolutely not be higher than equivalent routings within Seattle on the bus. This is in fact currently the case. This apparently is temporary and also related to persistent equipment malfunctions but the exact details of it have been badly publicized and this leaves plenty of room for public ire.
Enough people are irate about having to change from a bus to the train to go downtown, about the need for transfers sometimes on both ends of the route, about having some really important bus routes taken away, broken up, or rearranged. There a million other real and perceived forms of disconsideration: lack of ticket instructions in languages other than English, bus stops that do not have the correct numbers listed on the signs, a nightmare when one calls BUSTIME (see below).
RantWoman has spent little time around Light Rail during commuting hours but she has not yet been on a single Light Rail train that was overcrowded. RantWoman quite understands the ire of people who have been paying and paying already through their sales taxes for the Light Rail now being told they have to pay higher fares AND no longer have a bus substitute. In 20 years lots of things will have evolved so Light Rail ridership is more organic, but right now RantWoman would be concerned to make riding easy and to make the advantages of Light Rail more apparent. This does not appear to be happening, and the fare structure would be an easy thing to adjust to quell some of the ire.
3. The public's preference for a single-seat ride instead of multiple transfers that are supposed to lead to short trips seems counterintuitive to transit planners. Perhaps this is because transit planners spend too much time living life in their cars. Consider RantWoman's agenda yesterday afternoon, a stop to the north and then a meeting to the south.
RantWoman has new feline staff. Rantwoman has been trained by previous feline staff to keep things simple: if the feline staff arrives at one's household with certain defined habits about things like flavor of catfood, one's life will be simplest if one just accommodates these preferences even if the preferences come from a store where one shops less often than others. Feline staff was completely out of her preferred supper. Partial compensation for going out of one's way is a selection of things at prices RantWoman is very pleased about--until she thinks about the rest of her agenda and how much she gets to carry around.
RantWoman thought of trying out the wonders of the enhanced 8 schedule for the cat food purchase end of her agenda and then also in a single-seat ride to her other destination. In the end she opted for the 48 + the 2 plus part of her daily quota of walking going there. RantWoman just missed one 2 and was too lazy to walk up the hill. Once RantWoman arrived at the store, she found a number of items she wanted in addition to catfood: eggplant, cantaloupe. There were also a couple items that might sensibly have needed refrigeration except that RantWoman's philosophy about cultured milk products allows for sort of extended gaps in refrigeration on the grounds that the milk is already suffused with desirable fermentation to keep the undesirable fermentation at bay. RantWoman pointedly did not buy a few other things because she did not want to have to lug them around. RantWoman also opted to walk a known distance to the 48 rather than a longer one to the 8.
In a car, RantWoman imagines that purchases plus travel would have taken about 45 minutes including dawdling and additional impulse buys in the store and early evening traffic and parking for the later event. A car owner might even have had time margin to do the shoppng errand AFTER the other event; RantWoman did not, both because of store schedule and because of longer headways on several transit legs of her trip later in the evening. On the bus, it took almost 2 hours. The last leg of the trip would have been faster if RantWoman had wanted to lug her catfood, eggplant, cantaloupe and sundry other items across the street and up to ride one stop on the Light Rail and then lug her purchases 2 blocks from the light rail station to her destination. RantWoman likes the exercise benefits of her lifestyle, but even her enthusiasm has its limits.
Instead, drum roll please, RantWoman visited the forest St. Mount Baker bus facility and lived to tell about it. RantWoman caught the 48 back south and opted to wait for the 8 which stops right across the street from her destination. The downside of this was that RantWoman was a whit too late for the frequent 8 service and had to wait another 15 minutes. The ONLY upside: the 48 and the 8 both stop at the very same bus bay.
RantWoman's destination: an evening with members of the Seattle City Council to listen to people talk about--surprise--transit issues. The evening gets its own rant. RantWoman noted all sorts of warning flashers about approaching trains. She also noted that crossing MLK really does seem like a long walk, even to someone as more or less vigorous as RantWoman. Then it was time for the trip home.
For RantWoman the trip home was a one-seat ride on the 8. Amusingly, despite having gotten off the 8 across the street in the opposite direction, RantWoman had a brief moment of panic because the bus stop sign has not been updated with info about the 8 stopping there.
For amusement, RantWoman called BUSTIME. RantWoman is really glad she was not using daytime minutes to hear a voice chirp at her about looking up needed info on the internet. RantWoman does not have an accessible mobile device on which she might be able to peruse the internet. RantWoman can dial numbers she already knows. RantWoman has many other tirades about this topic. The important thing is the info about the web was irrelevant for RantWoman's situation. Even worse, so was the content of the BusTime info for Route 8. BusTime still had schedule info for the OLD version of the route 8 that stopped on Capitol Hill at that time of night.
The ride home was basically uneventful for RantWoman though not for people used to being able to ride the 42 downtown. The one peculiarity RantWoman is just filing: RantWoman THINKS that other years by this time in September more of the leaves are usually starting to fall off the trees. A lot of the street lighting in Seattle seems to assume this because RantWoman has walked a few different places recently that seem darker to RantWoman than she would like despite the fact that RantWoman can see there are some though not necessarily enough street lights. RantWoman thinks this problem is a lot of leaves on trees but she herself is not really street tree geek enough to do more than note the data points.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
WSDOT Bike and Ped Count Coming
Annual WSDOT bike and ped count coming up; counts will occur in several W WA cities. Plenty of ways to volunteer. RantWoman herself is going to have to see what she can do--besides bitching about having to share park paths with bicycle commuting maniacs along the I-90 bicycle speedway!
http://blog.seattlepi.com/transportation/archives/179868.asp
http://blog.seattlepi.com/transportation/archives/179868.asp
Honduras: Opportunity for action
Now for something different, RantWoman's reflex to support nonviolent dissent:
UPDATE: The protestors camped out in front of the Brazilian Embassy were violently attacked and removed from the Embassy with live rounds of ammunition and tear gas. There are at least 4 people wounded. President Zelaya was in the middle of an interview with Radio Globo early this morning from inside the Brazilian Embassy, struggling to talk through the tear gas, when the Radio Globo signal was once again cut.
The curfew started yesterday at 4pm has been extended until 6pm today.
Call to Action from the Quixote Center Delegation, 21 September 2009
U.S. citizens should contact the U.S. State Department and their Congressional Representatives to demand that the U.S. government:
pressure the de facto government of Honduras to refrain from using violence against nonviolent protestors
pressure the de facto regime to cease its repression of the freedom of expression and information in Honduras
unequivocally support the return to power of elected President Manuel Zelaya
President Manuel Zelaya returned today to Honduras, where he is camping out in the Brazilian embassy along with members of his cabinet. As thousands of people gathered in front of the embassy to welcome Zelaya back, the president of the coup government, Roberto Micheletti, threatened to cancel the embassy’s immunity if Zelaya were not handed over to the de facto government.
The power at the Brazilian embassy as well as at anti-coup media stations was cut, and the de facto government instated a curfew from 4pm this afternoon to 7am tomorrow. Nevertheless, people have remained in the streets around the Brazilian embassy, planning to stay throughout the night to demonstrate support for Manuel Zelaya’s return to power, and to protect him. Police and military units are on the streets to enforce the curfew, which has been extended to 6pm tomorrow.
The situation is extremely tense. People who remain in the streets during the night expect repression from police and military forces, which have blocked the entrance of people coming into Tegucigalpa from other parts of the country. National Resistance Front Against the Coup has sent out a call for a national strike tomorrow, and for people to come from all parts of the country to the capital to continue the show of popular support for the return of the democratically elected president.
The Honduran police and military have committed grave human rights violations under this coup regime, often during instated curfews. Again, we are asking U.S. Citizens to contact the State Department and Congressional Representatives to demand that the Honduran coup government refrain from further violations over the coming days.
UPDATE: The protestors camped out in front of the Brazilian Embassy were violently attacked and removed from the Embassy with live rounds of ammunition and tear gas. There are at least 4 people wounded. President Zelaya was in the middle of an interview with Radio Globo early this morning from inside the Brazilian Embassy, struggling to talk through the tear gas, when the Radio Globo signal was once again cut.
The curfew started yesterday at 4pm has been extended until 6pm today.
Call to Action from the Quixote Center Delegation, 21 September 2009
U.S. citizens should contact the U.S. State Department and their Congressional Representatives to demand that the U.S. government:
pressure the de facto government of Honduras to refrain from using violence against nonviolent protestors
pressure the de facto regime to cease its repression of the freedom of expression and information in Honduras
unequivocally support the return to power of elected President Manuel Zelaya
President Manuel Zelaya returned today to Honduras, where he is camping out in the Brazilian embassy along with members of his cabinet. As thousands of people gathered in front of the embassy to welcome Zelaya back, the president of the coup government, Roberto Micheletti, threatened to cancel the embassy’s immunity if Zelaya were not handed over to the de facto government.
The power at the Brazilian embassy as well as at anti-coup media stations was cut, and the de facto government instated a curfew from 4pm this afternoon to 7am tomorrow. Nevertheless, people have remained in the streets around the Brazilian embassy, planning to stay throughout the night to demonstrate support for Manuel Zelaya’s return to power, and to protect him. Police and military units are on the streets to enforce the curfew, which has been extended to 6pm tomorrow.
The situation is extremely tense. People who remain in the streets during the night expect repression from police and military forces, which have blocked the entrance of people coming into Tegucigalpa from other parts of the country. National Resistance Front Against the Coup has sent out a call for a national strike tomorrow, and for people to come from all parts of the country to the capital to continue the show of popular support for the return of the democratically elected president.
The Honduran police and military have committed grave human rights violations under this coup regime, often during instated curfews. Again, we are asking U.S. Citizens to contact the State Department and Congressional Representatives to demand that the Honduran coup government refrain from further violations over the coming days.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Cien Puntos in Columbia City
RantWoman attended a lovely reading and book signing at Biznik, in the Columbia City theater recently.
The first lovely thing is that RantWoman got there! RantWoman was thinking of the Columbia City Cinema, conflating Cinema and Theater even though the directions, next to Tutta Bella were not computing for RantWoman's command of the Columbia City Cinema conveniently located next to Subway. Indeed, RantWoman was quite pleased to find the theater and will now put it into her list of venues to be checked for interesting live amusements.
The evening was the sort of charming evening one would expect to spend with reasonably literate technorati: the reading was lowkey; the more interesting conversation happened in the line waiting for the book signing. RantWoman was touched and amused in retrospect that it did not occur to her to buy the e-book instead of the print version that came with admission to the event but, alas, RantWoman is responsible for her own flakiness. RantWoman supposes she should write a pesky letter to the authors asking that the e-book be offered equivalently to the hardback for such as herself. However, RantWoman may simply lend Trust Agents out to one of her book digesters and see what interesting tidbits come back in conversation.
The most memorable quote of the evening from Chris Brogan with the rapt audience before him: "This feels too much like church. Go ahead, Text, Twitter, Get out those laptops and get acquainted ." RantWoman thought of coughing significantly, both at the thought of personal acquaintance needing to be mediated by electronic devices and by the unsatisfying logistics of her own current mobile communications possibilities. As time ran out for questions and the line formed for the book signing, we all learned that, surprise, everyone there could in fact converse without their electronic devices!
RantWoman was also amused to observe in the line another guy who, like herself, was quite frank about seeing badly even though at first glance, with no white cane one might assume by appearances that there was nothing wrong. RantWoman's multiple mixed experiences with Thwack the badly-behaved white cane as social lubricant and chaperone deserve their own post; in that event Thwack was being indolent, lounging in RantWoman's bag. RantWoman filed her impression of this guys massive red and white nametag with letters RantWoman could even read at the distance usually considered socially acceptable in her basket of experiences taking the blindness thing around whether one means to or not and then resumed the actual networking she had been managing tolerably already.
After the booksigning and a trip to Subway, RantWoman had a dilemma. It was a warm lovely night. RantWoman had the choice of walking about 5 blocks to the Light Rail or waiting for the next #7. RantWoman needed to buy bananas at the QFC part way home and would have to deal with some street crossing either way. RantWoman has not previously walked Edmonds St in the dark and was a little afraid of dark streets full of trees and bad sidewalks, not to mention God Knows What lurking in the dark in the 'hood.
The sky was still slightly turquoise and RantWoman rapidly resolved that the night was mellow enough for whatever came up. RantWoman wound up being delighted with what she found. RantWoman detected a whole bunch of new housing which she supposes--but could not really evaluate--probably fully conforms to the factors generating lots of ugly, or even FUGLY* townhomes. Nevertheless, the new housing more than meets one of RantWoman's preferred criteria for safe nighttime walking: lights on in buildings and obvious evidence that people are around even if they are not out on the street. The sidewalks are mostly brand new, the lighting is decent even with foliage still on the trees, and the curb cuts even align quite sensibly. In short, the walk was an absolute delight and RantWoman is likely to make it again many times coming and going from Columbia City.
(*RantWoman suggests filing FUGLY as interesting usage. She hopes her lexicography customers can tell from context what is meant and can guess on their own the etymology, but if not...)
The first lovely thing is that RantWoman got there! RantWoman was thinking of the Columbia City Cinema, conflating Cinema and Theater even though the directions, next to Tutta Bella were not computing for RantWoman's command of the Columbia City Cinema conveniently located next to Subway. Indeed, RantWoman was quite pleased to find the theater and will now put it into her list of venues to be checked for interesting live amusements.
The evening was the sort of charming evening one would expect to spend with reasonably literate technorati: the reading was lowkey; the more interesting conversation happened in the line waiting for the book signing. RantWoman was touched and amused in retrospect that it did not occur to her to buy the e-book instead of the print version that came with admission to the event but, alas, RantWoman is responsible for her own flakiness. RantWoman supposes she should write a pesky letter to the authors asking that the e-book be offered equivalently to the hardback for such as herself. However, RantWoman may simply lend Trust Agents out to one of her book digesters and see what interesting tidbits come back in conversation.
The most memorable quote of the evening from Chris Brogan with the rapt audience before him: "This feels too much like church. Go ahead, Text, Twitter, Get out those laptops and get acquainted ." RantWoman thought of coughing significantly, both at the thought of personal acquaintance needing to be mediated by electronic devices and by the unsatisfying logistics of her own current mobile communications possibilities. As time ran out for questions and the line formed for the book signing, we all learned that, surprise, everyone there could in fact converse without their electronic devices!
RantWoman was also amused to observe in the line another guy who, like herself, was quite frank about seeing badly even though at first glance, with no white cane one might assume by appearances that there was nothing wrong. RantWoman's multiple mixed experiences with Thwack the badly-behaved white cane as social lubricant and chaperone deserve their own post; in that event Thwack was being indolent, lounging in RantWoman's bag. RantWoman filed her impression of this guys massive red and white nametag with letters RantWoman could even read at the distance usually considered socially acceptable in her basket of experiences taking the blindness thing around whether one means to or not and then resumed the actual networking she had been managing tolerably already.
After the booksigning and a trip to Subway, RantWoman had a dilemma. It was a warm lovely night. RantWoman had the choice of walking about 5 blocks to the Light Rail or waiting for the next #7. RantWoman needed to buy bananas at the QFC part way home and would have to deal with some street crossing either way. RantWoman has not previously walked Edmonds St in the dark and was a little afraid of dark streets full of trees and bad sidewalks, not to mention God Knows What lurking in the dark in the 'hood.
The sky was still slightly turquoise and RantWoman rapidly resolved that the night was mellow enough for whatever came up. RantWoman wound up being delighted with what she found. RantWoman detected a whole bunch of new housing which she supposes--but could not really evaluate--probably fully conforms to the factors generating lots of ugly, or even FUGLY* townhomes. Nevertheless, the new housing more than meets one of RantWoman's preferred criteria for safe nighttime walking: lights on in buildings and obvious evidence that people are around even if they are not out on the street. The sidewalks are mostly brand new, the lighting is decent even with foliage still on the trees, and the curb cuts even align quite sensibly. In short, the walk was an absolute delight and RantWoman is likely to make it again many times coming and going from Columbia City.
(*RantWoman suggests filing FUGLY as interesting usage. She hopes her lexicography customers can tell from context what is meant and can guess on their own the etymology, but if not...)
Annoy me!
RantWoman has a full and rich life. She is abundantly grateful for much of this life. Today though RantWoman's life, more particularly her email is far overly endowed with annoyances, annoyances that are supposed to cheer and inform! RantWoman is talking about all the GUNK that people put at the bottom of their email. Consider the following categories:
--The confidentiality / limitation of practice boilerplate. RantWoman KNOWS these texts are there for the protection of the sender and the information contained. RantWoman always finds it just a little disconcerting though to get email distributed through an email listserve where the confidentiality boilerplate is three times as long as the rest of the content of the message. Often this mail is from language professionals working in legal or medical fields. RantWoman knows perfectly well that these domains are awash in confidentiality concerns. She just tries to reconcile the confidentiality points with appearance on public listserves, especially when the boilerplate gets repeated with each new reply to the thread. Next RantWoman marvels that language professionals who are supposed to specialize in correct and clear communications cannot seem to boil their boilerplate down from the dimensions of War and Peace to at most a couple sentences.
--The inspiring quotationS. RantWoman is all for short bursts of inspiring prose. RantWoman herself regularly needs fresh inspiration and insight. RantWoman absolutely categorically does not need more than ONE burst of inspiration with each mail message. RantWoman has one correspondent who has used the same THREE items for several weeks. RantWoman alas does not quite feel she knows this correspondent well enough to ask him please to ease up on the inspiration or at least to rotate so we all get new bursts from time to time.
--Animated emoticons! RantWoman has one correspondent who uses these leering yellow menaces on her professional business correspondence. The first problem is the leering yellow menace effect with grinning buck teeth and cheeringstick arms. The second problem is that the leering yellow menaces do not hold up well as they are passed back and forth among different email systems. What start out as leering yellow menaces come back the second time around as meaningless strings of numbers above as well as below the message text. RantWoman's screen reader takes even longer to get to the content text and RantWoman's brain has even longer to go on holiday, to space out and to miss the critical content. RantWoman wants to thank this coworker: RantWoman THINKS the animated emoticons have finally been excised and she categorically absolutely hopes they do not come back.
Compared to world hunger, lack of potable water, and other assaults on human dignity, RantWoman knows perfectly well she is supposed to count her blessings that the worst problem of her day is leering yellow menaces in her email. RantWoman freely admits she is thoroughly spoiled by the mollycoddled cushiness of modern life and not the least bit apologetic about the possibility that the leering yellow menaces might push her fragile psyche over the edge!
--The confidentiality / limitation of practice boilerplate. RantWoman KNOWS these texts are there for the protection of the sender and the information contained. RantWoman always finds it just a little disconcerting though to get email distributed through an email listserve where the confidentiality boilerplate is three times as long as the rest of the content of the message. Often this mail is from language professionals working in legal or medical fields. RantWoman knows perfectly well that these domains are awash in confidentiality concerns. She just tries to reconcile the confidentiality points with appearance on public listserves, especially when the boilerplate gets repeated with each new reply to the thread. Next RantWoman marvels that language professionals who are supposed to specialize in correct and clear communications cannot seem to boil their boilerplate down from the dimensions of War and Peace to at most a couple sentences.
--The inspiring quotationS. RantWoman is all for short bursts of inspiring prose. RantWoman herself regularly needs fresh inspiration and insight. RantWoman absolutely categorically does not need more than ONE burst of inspiration with each mail message. RantWoman has one correspondent who has used the same THREE items for several weeks. RantWoman alas does not quite feel she knows this correspondent well enough to ask him please to ease up on the inspiration or at least to rotate so we all get new bursts from time to time.
--Animated emoticons! RantWoman has one correspondent who uses these leering yellow menaces on her professional business correspondence. The first problem is the leering yellow menace effect with grinning buck teeth and cheeringstick arms. The second problem is that the leering yellow menaces do not hold up well as they are passed back and forth among different email systems. What start out as leering yellow menaces come back the second time around as meaningless strings of numbers above as well as below the message text. RantWoman's screen reader takes even longer to get to the content text and RantWoman's brain has even longer to go on holiday, to space out and to miss the critical content. RantWoman wants to thank this coworker: RantWoman THINKS the animated emoticons have finally been excised and she categorically absolutely hopes they do not come back.
Compared to world hunger, lack of potable water, and other assaults on human dignity, RantWoman knows perfectly well she is supposed to count her blessings that the worst problem of her day is leering yellow menaces in her email. RantWoman freely admits she is thoroughly spoiled by the mollycoddled cushiness of modern life and not the least bit apologetic about the possibility that the leering yellow menaces might push her fragile psyche over the edge!
Monday, September 14, 2009
A Traffic Signal Perplexity
RantWoman's friend who got hit by a car 10 days ago is doing just phenomenally well. The exact details of this remarkable progress will be grist for other posts. RantWoman's friend still has a LONG way to go toward back to normal, but if she continues at current pace, she will be there faster than many might have imagined based on the details of her accident.
One touching side effect of this friend's injuries is that friend's family members have become quite conversationally protective about everyone and anyone where matters of crossing streets are involved. RantWoman actually does not quite know what to do with these sentiments. RantWoman really likes and even needs to go out and be mobile at all hours, in all weathers. RantWoman uses as much prudence, vigilance, and visibility enhancement as she can muster. Alas, if RantWoman spent too long focusing on all the accompanying dangers and severe annoyances, her life would just be too terrifying and RantWoman would be even more of an annoying person than she already is.
However, RantWoman is going to give one specific item its due. In addition to visiting friends on the trauma ward, RantWoman has work-related reasons to be coming and going from bus stops near Harborview. Thus, RantWoman has lately been forced to reflect on a traffic engineering perplexity: the city's reliance on a 4-way stop rather than a full traffic signal at the intersection closest to the entry to the ER / trauma unit.
Bear in mind there is substantial car traffic from all 4 directions at all hours of the day and night; some of that traffic really likes to turn right in front of paths to and front of one of the bus stops. There are ambulance and emergency vehicles. There are multiple bus routes with stops on 3 of the 4 sides of the intersection. There are pedestrians all over the place. There is another full traffic signal a block away with a red light camera which goes off so often at certain times that RantWoman recommends that people with any kind of photo-triggered seizure disorder avoid even looking in the direction of that corner.
RantWoman, uninitiated as she is into the full arcana of traffic engineering metrics and crash statistics, thinks the intersection closest to the trauma ward is exactly the sort of intersection that should be a prime location for a full traffic signal with walk lights, timing, the whole car and pedestrian traffic light package. RantWoman is fairly sure that long ago in the hoary mists of her time in Seattle that intersection once had a full traffic light. Then two different big construction projects occurred and the signal left behind is only a 4-way stop. RantWoman assuredly does not wish there to be lots and lots of crashes; she does find it perverse that this site is so conveniently located near the trauma ward if crashes do occur. Hence her perplexity!
One touching side effect of this friend's injuries is that friend's family members have become quite conversationally protective about everyone and anyone where matters of crossing streets are involved. RantWoman actually does not quite know what to do with these sentiments. RantWoman really likes and even needs to go out and be mobile at all hours, in all weathers. RantWoman uses as much prudence, vigilance, and visibility enhancement as she can muster. Alas, if RantWoman spent too long focusing on all the accompanying dangers and severe annoyances, her life would just be too terrifying and RantWoman would be even more of an annoying person than she already is.
However, RantWoman is going to give one specific item its due. In addition to visiting friends on the trauma ward, RantWoman has work-related reasons to be coming and going from bus stops near Harborview. Thus, RantWoman has lately been forced to reflect on a traffic engineering perplexity: the city's reliance on a 4-way stop rather than a full traffic signal at the intersection closest to the entry to the ER / trauma unit.
Bear in mind there is substantial car traffic from all 4 directions at all hours of the day and night; some of that traffic really likes to turn right in front of paths to and front of one of the bus stops. There are ambulance and emergency vehicles. There are multiple bus routes with stops on 3 of the 4 sides of the intersection. There are pedestrians all over the place. There is another full traffic signal a block away with a red light camera which goes off so often at certain times that RantWoman recommends that people with any kind of photo-triggered seizure disorder avoid even looking in the direction of that corner.
RantWoman, uninitiated as she is into the full arcana of traffic engineering metrics and crash statistics, thinks the intersection closest to the trauma ward is exactly the sort of intersection that should be a prime location for a full traffic signal with walk lights, timing, the whole car and pedestrian traffic light package. RantWoman is fairly sure that long ago in the hoary mists of her time in Seattle that intersection once had a full traffic light. Then two different big construction projects occurred and the signal left behind is only a 4-way stop. RantWoman assuredly does not wish there to be lots and lots of crashes; she does find it perverse that this site is so conveniently located near the trauma ward if crashes do occur. Hence her perplexity!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Gimme Shelters
RantWoman had occasion today to go past the new Forest St. "bus facility." RantWoman is quite excited to note that the place is now sporting 4 actual bus shelters including both benches and trash cans. Woo--hoo!
Lest anyone fear that these new amenities will leave RantWoman completely bereft of things to grumble about, fear not. After achieving the bank transaction that was the reason for RantWoman's visitation, RantWoman next sought to cross Rainier toward the light rail station. RantWoman crossed in the south crosswalk and took note of other elements that are worthy of a standup comedy routine: the curb cut is well to the right of the crosswalk and there are two or three random street signs between the curb cut and the crosswalk, just in case RantWoman needs another reason besides the endless opportunities to cross paths with buses, for her "avoid like the plague" list.
Give the vast transit planning conspiracy credit for one thing: unlike a certain park and ride in another part of town, there is a stop light from the outset rather than waiting years and a long list of car vs ped collisions before a stop light was finally, last year, ding, ding, ding installed.
Lest anyone fear that these new amenities will leave RantWoman completely bereft of things to grumble about, fear not. After achieving the bank transaction that was the reason for RantWoman's visitation, RantWoman next sought to cross Rainier toward the light rail station. RantWoman crossed in the south crosswalk and took note of other elements that are worthy of a standup comedy routine: the curb cut is well to the right of the crosswalk and there are two or three random street signs between the curb cut and the crosswalk, just in case RantWoman needs another reason besides the endless opportunities to cross paths with buses, for her "avoid like the plague" list.
Give the vast transit planning conspiracy credit for one thing: unlike a certain park and ride in another part of town, there is a stop light from the outset rather than waiting years and a long list of car vs ped collisions before a stop light was finally, last year, ding, ding, ding installed.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Trauma Ward and accompanying ...
RantWoman has learned more of her friend who was hit by a car on Thursday night.
RantWoman's friend is a member of her faith community. RantWoman has been keeping rants specific to her faith community in a separate blog for numerous reasons. However, this accident also clangs hard on RantWoman's fixations on pedestrian safety and walkability, and it seems likely that the blog threads are going to crisscoss multiple times multiple ways. RantWoman explicity does not promise to explain every piece of terminology and idiosyncratic usage in her other blog; She expects most of the points she wants to weave into this blog should be comprehensible regardless.
RantWoman learned yesterday that her friend was hit in her home neighborhood by a car going 35 mph through a red light. RantWoman's friend was walking home from her bus stop after work. Another person from RantWoman's faith community got caught in the resulting traffic backup. No one knows yet whether the driver of the car was charged; in fact, RantWoman is likely to focus most of her energy for now on what her friend and husband need most. RantWoman is unlikely to forget about the other driver or the circumstances of the accident or a number of other points, but here are more notes fresh from RantWoman's mulling of the info received yesterday.
Compassion and Outrage
RantWoman's friend is a member of her faith community. RantWoman has been keeping rants specific to her faith community in a separate blog for numerous reasons. However, this accident also clangs hard on RantWoman's fixations on pedestrian safety and walkability, and it seems likely that the blog threads are going to crisscoss multiple times multiple ways. RantWoman explicity does not promise to explain every piece of terminology and idiosyncratic usage in her other blog; She expects most of the points she wants to weave into this blog should be comprehensible regardless.
RantWoman learned yesterday that her friend was hit in her home neighborhood by a car going 35 mph through a red light. RantWoman's friend was walking home from her bus stop after work. Another person from RantWoman's faith community got caught in the resulting traffic backup. No one knows yet whether the driver of the car was charged; in fact, RantWoman is likely to focus most of her energy for now on what her friend and husband need most. RantWoman is unlikely to forget about the other driver or the circumstances of the accident or a number of other points, but here are more notes fresh from RantWoman's mulling of the info received yesterday.
Compassion and Outrage
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Aubergine Libertine in limousine with Ice Cream
No, wait, RantWoman's dining buddies the Weed Whackin Wenches
found it better! the Aubergine poem .
Well, except RantWoman thinks after Saturday's festival of vitamins and laughter, she may have come home with the star aubergine. The one Curmudgeon clipped on her garden tour between opportunities to sniff herbs, visits to pole beans and pepper plants and tomatoes climbing the side of the house, explanations of flower formation and transformation to seed pods, is a handsome number perfect for one person and it looks to RantWoman at least suspiciously like the one in the picture. But then RantWoman's eyes are decidedly not to be relied on, and the snipped aubergine would be only part of the story anyway.
First, a short moment about RantWoman's gardening aspirations. RantWoman aspires to have tomatoes. She has a lot of tomato plants on her balcony but blossoms remain unseen. RantWoman is happily munching chives, parsley, basil, oregano. She considers this a good start, but it is late enough in the season that she is very glad to visit real gardens yielding actual abundance.
Next, Curmudgeon and WingNut have a new kitchen implement. They have an electric ICE CREAM MAKER, and they invited RantWoman to help break it in. RantWoman is seldom shy about either food or gizmos. In this case, she offered to bring something but never specified what. In the event, the what was the most wonderful fudgy cookies from Borrachini's Bakery and, since Italian bread was 2 loaves for the price of one, a loaf on a whim of Italian bread.
RantWoman is serious when she says the Italian bread was a whim. RantWoman loves many things at Borrachini's Bakery . She loves the amaretti, the fruit bars, the sweet potato pie, the fudgy cookies, the large selection of different olive oils, the fun selection of things that can be painted on cakes, the 24 flavors of softserve in cones. Except for bagels or something from the dayold shelf to make French toast from though, RantWoman would by default buy bread somewhere else; when she succumbs to whims, she is usually reminded why. The Italian bread was crispy on the outside but definitely not long on substance inside. But never mind, slices went great with the rest of an ad-hoc menu and anyone displeased to have some left can slice it thick, toast under the broiler and brush with olive oil suffused with garlic, either that or toast, break into chunks, and toss into a strata. But RantWoman is getting ahead of herself.
Dinner invites to the Wenches' generally come with approximate times due to bus vagaries, and RantWoman's arrival was earlyish. Diva Dog always has to make a great show of alertness and alarm when RantWoman shows up, all the more so if RantWoman manages to creep down the Wenches' driveway to their door without Diva Dog noticing until she knocks at the door. RantWoman generally does not think of herself as good at creeping silently, but she manages it surprisingly often on the way to the Wenches'.
Diva Dog has an excuse for missing RantWoman's arrival this time even though there was only a screen between home and RantWoman. Diva Dog had to go to the vet yesterday because of a big ugly white thing on one eyelid. The big ugly white thing turned out to be a local tick, something RantWoman would not have known and neither did the Wenches. RantWoman well imagines that having a monstrous pest picked off one eyelid would take it out of man or beast, and this on top of another small but annoying remedy RantWoman will leave further unspecified.
After RantWoman paid proper tribute to Diva Dog and was amitted through the door, the Wenches were all apologetic: first they had worn themselves out gardening the day before and did not feel like cooking. They had an abundance of beans of several kinds from their garden, yellow, something like purple royalty that was yellow with purple spots at least before cooking, some purple ones that also alas turn green when cooked, and some of the conventional green ones. They had excellent corn on the cob from their favorite market. They sounded thrilled with the bread RantWoman feared would be inadequate. And they suggested roasted chicken from the supermarket. RantWoman always has such fun dining with the Wenches, she can hardly imagine something she would turn down, especially if there was Homemade Ice Cream!
RantWoman like WingNut remembers a time or two in childhood where homemade ice cream involved much rock salt and ice and hours of cranking by all the children available for miles followed by a few minutes of serious cranks from uncles or farm hands. Cranking children and uncles are in short supply in these parts; luckily thanks to the wonders of modern technology, homemade ice cream can be had merely by mixing the ingredients, pouring them into the pre-chilled freezer bowl, plugging the thing in, setting the timer for 30 minutes, and digressing to other themes.
Last night's recipe involved real cream, whole milk, vanilla, sugar and White Socks the cat watching either worriedly or worshipfully we are not sure which while the motor whined away. Finally, White Socks decided she could in fact turn away to crunch something in her food dish and they she returned to her perch in the living room.
Snuggle Bug, the Wenches' other kitty was another story. She took no notice of the ice cream maker at all. Snuggle Bug, as long as RantWoman has known her has always been kind of a furry black neck scarf of a kitty. Lately, the Wenches are pretty sure she, quite advanced in years, is almost completely deaf, but she is adamant in her enthusiasm for any human able and willing to be cat furniture for extended periods of time. RantWoman thoroughly enjoyed a couple quite extended rounds of extravagant purring while Snuggle Bug rested on RantWoman's arms, but RantWoman did rudely insist on putting the kitty down to dine.
Diva Dog's vet, The Aurora Ave. Veterinary Hospital is quite near where RantWoman used to live so Diva Dog's reward for putting up with necessary veterinary torments was a good walk around to look at gardens and greenery. Well, looking would be the idea, but that neighborhood is slowly being devoured by townhomes. Townhome ownerss on average are much less garden-oriented than, say, the Wenches and RantWoman is sorry to hear the Wenches' report that things on the gardening front are even more stunted than she remembers. Alas, unlike a couple other neighborhoods mentioned, the townhomes are not even interesting rainbow colors. Sigh.
The Wenches promise more ice cream adventures. So far the roadmaps are a couple ice cream books from the library. Kumquat fennel sorbet anyone? Or perhaps cardomom almond ice cream.
Meanwhile, no dancing queens puffing nicotine. No Charlie Sheen time machine with a nectarine, just RantWoman at home with a tasty aubergine.
found it better! the Aubergine poem .
Well, except RantWoman thinks after Saturday's festival of vitamins and laughter, she may have come home with the star aubergine. The one Curmudgeon clipped on her garden tour between opportunities to sniff herbs, visits to pole beans and pepper plants and tomatoes climbing the side of the house, explanations of flower formation and transformation to seed pods, is a handsome number perfect for one person and it looks to RantWoman at least suspiciously like the one in the picture. But then RantWoman's eyes are decidedly not to be relied on, and the snipped aubergine would be only part of the story anyway.
First, a short moment about RantWoman's gardening aspirations. RantWoman aspires to have tomatoes. She has a lot of tomato plants on her balcony but blossoms remain unseen. RantWoman is happily munching chives, parsley, basil, oregano. She considers this a good start, but it is late enough in the season that she is very glad to visit real gardens yielding actual abundance.
Next, Curmudgeon and WingNut have a new kitchen implement. They have an electric ICE CREAM MAKER, and they invited RantWoman to help break it in. RantWoman is seldom shy about either food or gizmos. In this case, she offered to bring something but never specified what. In the event, the what was the most wonderful fudgy cookies from Borrachini's Bakery and, since Italian bread was 2 loaves for the price of one, a loaf on a whim of Italian bread.
RantWoman is serious when she says the Italian bread was a whim. RantWoman loves many things at Borrachini's Bakery . She loves the amaretti, the fruit bars, the sweet potato pie, the fudgy cookies, the large selection of different olive oils, the fun selection of things that can be painted on cakes, the 24 flavors of softserve in cones. Except for bagels or something from the dayold shelf to make French toast from though, RantWoman would by default buy bread somewhere else; when she succumbs to whims, she is usually reminded why. The Italian bread was crispy on the outside but definitely not long on substance inside. But never mind, slices went great with the rest of an ad-hoc menu and anyone displeased to have some left can slice it thick, toast under the broiler and brush with olive oil suffused with garlic, either that or toast, break into chunks, and toss into a strata. But RantWoman is getting ahead of herself.
Dinner invites to the Wenches' generally come with approximate times due to bus vagaries, and RantWoman's arrival was earlyish. Diva Dog always has to make a great show of alertness and alarm when RantWoman shows up, all the more so if RantWoman manages to creep down the Wenches' driveway to their door without Diva Dog noticing until she knocks at the door. RantWoman generally does not think of herself as good at creeping silently, but she manages it surprisingly often on the way to the Wenches'.
Diva Dog has an excuse for missing RantWoman's arrival this time even though there was only a screen between home and RantWoman. Diva Dog had to go to the vet yesterday because of a big ugly white thing on one eyelid. The big ugly white thing turned out to be a local tick, something RantWoman would not have known and neither did the Wenches. RantWoman well imagines that having a monstrous pest picked off one eyelid would take it out of man or beast, and this on top of another small but annoying remedy RantWoman will leave further unspecified.
After RantWoman paid proper tribute to Diva Dog and was amitted through the door, the Wenches were all apologetic: first they had worn themselves out gardening the day before and did not feel like cooking. They had an abundance of beans of several kinds from their garden, yellow, something like purple royalty that was yellow with purple spots at least before cooking, some purple ones that also alas turn green when cooked, and some of the conventional green ones. They had excellent corn on the cob from their favorite market. They sounded thrilled with the bread RantWoman feared would be inadequate. And they suggested roasted chicken from the supermarket. RantWoman always has such fun dining with the Wenches, she can hardly imagine something she would turn down, especially if there was Homemade Ice Cream!
RantWoman like WingNut remembers a time or two in childhood where homemade ice cream involved much rock salt and ice and hours of cranking by all the children available for miles followed by a few minutes of serious cranks from uncles or farm hands. Cranking children and uncles are in short supply in these parts; luckily thanks to the wonders of modern technology, homemade ice cream can be had merely by mixing the ingredients, pouring them into the pre-chilled freezer bowl, plugging the thing in, setting the timer for 30 minutes, and digressing to other themes.
Last night's recipe involved real cream, whole milk, vanilla, sugar and White Socks the cat watching either worriedly or worshipfully we are not sure which while the motor whined away. Finally, White Socks decided she could in fact turn away to crunch something in her food dish and they she returned to her perch in the living room.
Snuggle Bug, the Wenches' other kitty was another story. She took no notice of the ice cream maker at all. Snuggle Bug, as long as RantWoman has known her has always been kind of a furry black neck scarf of a kitty. Lately, the Wenches are pretty sure she, quite advanced in years, is almost completely deaf, but she is adamant in her enthusiasm for any human able and willing to be cat furniture for extended periods of time. RantWoman thoroughly enjoyed a couple quite extended rounds of extravagant purring while Snuggle Bug rested on RantWoman's arms, but RantWoman did rudely insist on putting the kitty down to dine.
Diva Dog's vet, The Aurora Ave. Veterinary Hospital is quite near where RantWoman used to live so Diva Dog's reward for putting up with necessary veterinary torments was a good walk around to look at gardens and greenery. Well, looking would be the idea, but that neighborhood is slowly being devoured by townhomes. Townhome ownerss on average are much less garden-oriented than, say, the Wenches and RantWoman is sorry to hear the Wenches' report that things on the gardening front are even more stunted than she remembers. Alas, unlike a couple other neighborhoods mentioned, the townhomes are not even interesting rainbow colors. Sigh.
The Wenches promise more ice cream adventures. So far the roadmaps are a couple ice cream books from the library. Kumquat fennel sorbet anyone? Or perhaps cardomom almond ice cream.
Meanwhile, no dancing queens puffing nicotine. No Charlie Sheen time machine with a nectarine, just RantWoman at home with a tasty aubergine.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Poet Stephen Kuusisto NEWS
RantWoman MUST pry herself out of the interwebs and go deal with the unintentional life forms in her fridge, the flotsam on her desk that should be files, and a floor it's best simply not to speak of.
First, RantWoman took one last peek at Twitter and found the following fascinating item:
http://www.planet-of-the-blind.com/2009/09/seeing-above-blindness.html
RantWoman expects to have much to say, just NOT NOW.
RantWoman had not previously paid attention to Stephen Kuusisto's blog, but since she likes literary excess and all the more if she can access it easily, she must take note.
http://www.planet-of-the-blind.com/
First, RantWoman took one last peek at Twitter and found the following fascinating item:
http://www.planet-of-the-blind.com/2009/09/seeing-above-blindness.html
RantWoman expects to have much to say, just NOT NOW.
RantWoman had not previously paid attention to Stephen Kuusisto's blog, but since she likes literary excess and all the more if she can access it easily, she must take note.
http://www.planet-of-the-blind.com/
Friend Hit
RantWoman is in a serious funk. She just learned that a friend of hers was hit by a car a couple days ago and is in intensive care at Harborview.
Friend and her husband are technological holdouts who do not live every second on cellphones. RantWoman will call their home and leave a message but will not expect to hear back until tomorrow.
Meanwhile, on the way to looking for any account that might have hit the media, RantWoman hereby endorses the following website by Seattle City councilmember Tim Burgess: http://www.timburgess.com/ . Lots of sanity here and some links RantWoman really wants to come back to though she will leave to others' opinion any comments about whether an enthusiastic RantWoman appreciation is necessarily every politician's dream endorsement.
Friend and her husband are technological holdouts who do not live every second on cellphones. RantWoman will call their home and leave a message but will not expect to hear back until tomorrow.
Meanwhile, on the way to looking for any account that might have hit the media, RantWoman hereby endorses the following website by Seattle City councilmember Tim Burgess: http://www.timburgess.com/ . Lots of sanity here and some links RantWoman really wants to come back to though she will leave to others' opinion any comments about whether an enthusiastic RantWoman appreciation is necessarily every politician's dream endorsement.
Forest Street Crossing
RantWoman is trying. RantWoman really is trying. RantWoman is trying to give someone the benefit of the doubt about pedestrian pathways to and from the Mount Baker Station . RantWoman MAY be able to suppress comments such as "really bad batch of some street drug" or "mass alien abduction of all awareness of pedestrian issues." RantWoman may someday be able to go online somewhere and put in an order for a Mary Poppins umbrella, but RantWoman has no idea when to expect that.
Perhaps RantWoman should simply write what she has observed. (RantWoman apologizes if distant readers are bored by the detail and recommends Google maps for scenery options for entertainment value.)
RantWoman lives northeast of this station. There is another whole basket of gripes southbound but that deserves its own post. School will start soon and RantWoman expects some of those rants will get crash-tested as the school year gears up.
--RantWoman has been walking between the Mount Baker Station and her abode fairly frequently of late. RantWoman actually thinks hav ing longer walks between her public transit and her home could be good for her. It could either allow her to pretend to maintain her girlish figure a little better or at least allow her more ways to rationalize occasional consumption of real french fries with the skin on from Dick's Drive in Unfortunately, it could also fill RantWoman with that pioneering spirit and adrenalin rush of people who do not otherwise have enough adventure in their lives.
--RantWoman has the choice of two routes going south and basically one and a half going north. RantWoman can either go down the side of Martin Luther King that has sidewalk or do a route south on 25th Avenue South and then Rainier.
Southbound during the day, the walk along the W side of MLK is lovely. It's well-separated from traffic. The sidewalk is in decent shape. There are trees and shrubbery. There are three well-controlled intersections to deal with, no extra mangy driveways, well until RantWoman gets to the Forest St. Bus facility, about which more in a moment.
Northbound, RantWoman would never do this routing at night because there is literally nowhere with people present except the ones whizzing by in cars or lurking in the bushes. Southbound in daylight, RantWoman prefers this routing to routings from the other side of her building. Both 25th Ave. S and Rainier have a lot of driveways with big trucks, SUV's full of fast-food consumers, and heaven knows what all crossing the sidewalks at all angles. The ONLY plus of this routing is that the grade works better for people in wheelchairs.
Crossing Rainier at Bayview suits RantWoman better than at McClellan, possibly just because there are fewer directions cars come steadily from and also because there is no gnarly left-turn cycle, fewer people who want to floorboard their right turns after infinitesimally short stops, and not even as many buses who pull into the crosswalks. There are a lot of driveways this direction but fewer tree roots playing havoc with the sidewalk. This route is basically tolerable until one crosses McClellan but more on that in a moment.
--Item: The new Forest St. bus facility is open. That is, the orange barriers are gone and the traffic light across Rainier is working though there are no buses through there yet. RantWoman uses the word "facility" with extreme caution. It's basically a parking lot with a couple narrow, sidewalk-sized bus islands with iron rails on one side in the middle of the parking lot. There are driveways on both the Rainier and MLK sides of the place and as you can tell from RantWoman's comments above, this sort of arrangement excites RantWoman so very much! There are no bus shelters, no trash cans, no awnings, no trees, no shrubbery, NOTHING to remove the location from RantWoman's "Avoid like the Plague" list. RantWoman is especially peeved about this because this "facility" is supposed to replace a wonderful expansive, comfortable bus stop well separated from traffic on the N side of Rainier and McClellan. This "facility" is also supposed to be a key node in transfers between bus routes and Light Rail and is the terminus of several soon-to-be revised routes. When RantWoman is at her most low-key, she recommends just booking public meetings about the place as standup comedy; that would make more sense than trying to pretend the place is anything more serious than a project that suddenly ran out of oomph at a really key juncture.
--Next consider Forest St. itself and the Forest St crossing at Rainier. RantWoman had gotten spoiled by the row of orange traffic barriers across Forest St. along Rainier. For a time when RantWoman got off the train, she could simply walk under the tracks, cross Forest St, and spend a few more seconds in relative quiet before venturing into the land of tire stores, lawn mower rental options, and the world's trashiest extra narrow bus stop alongside the din of a busy street. (RantWoman is all for tire repair and lawn mower rental; she is NOT for traffic problems.) This week RantWoman noticed that the traffic barriers are gone and the traffic signal is working so one can cross Rainier at Forest St. RantWoman imagines this is supposed to be good news. RantWoman notes that Forest St. is by far not the only problem.
--Item: The other day RantWoman, Thwack and Travelling Buddy who probably really does need some flags for her wheelchair were busy going south between McClellan on our way to a Light Rail expedition. There was a bus pulling away from the bus stop and RantWoman thinks some car trying to turn left off Rainier into one of the driveways. RantWoman has a sense of being very lucky the car driver saw her party. RantWoman is still not charmed and is filing the experience in her shockingly large basket of gripes and grumbles about the Mount Baker Station especially since she sees no way anything about the Forest St. Bus facility is going to help.
--As if the situation on dry sunny days were not bad enough, RantWoman notes all the signs of shifting seasons, receding daylight and impending onset of the season of slop and muck. In RantWoman's ever febrile fantasy life, she would so like to be able to walk out the north end of the light rail station, to go straight toward the stores instead of some impossible zigzag route, and to trundle along sheltered by the buildings and skip all the opportunities to walk along Rainier getting splashed with traffic slop and flashed with car headlights. But perhaps for now RantWoman will simply stop and go play in the sunshine before it runs out for the year.
Perhaps RantWoman should simply write what she has observed. (RantWoman apologizes if distant readers are bored by the detail and recommends Google maps for scenery options for entertainment value.)
RantWoman lives northeast of this station. There is another whole basket of gripes southbound but that deserves its own post. School will start soon and RantWoman expects some of those rants will get crash-tested as the school year gears up.
--RantWoman has been walking between the Mount Baker Station and her abode fairly frequently of late. RantWoman actually thinks hav ing longer walks between her public transit and her home could be good for her. It could either allow her to pretend to maintain her girlish figure a little better or at least allow her more ways to rationalize occasional consumption of real french fries with the skin on from Dick's Drive in Unfortunately, it could also fill RantWoman with that pioneering spirit and adrenalin rush of people who do not otherwise have enough adventure in their lives.
--RantWoman has the choice of two routes going south and basically one and a half going north. RantWoman can either go down the side of Martin Luther King that has sidewalk or do a route south on 25th Avenue South and then Rainier.
Southbound during the day, the walk along the W side of MLK is lovely. It's well-separated from traffic. The sidewalk is in decent shape. There are trees and shrubbery. There are three well-controlled intersections to deal with, no extra mangy driveways, well until RantWoman gets to the Forest St. Bus facility, about which more in a moment.
Northbound, RantWoman would never do this routing at night because there is literally nowhere with people present except the ones whizzing by in cars or lurking in the bushes. Southbound in daylight, RantWoman prefers this routing to routings from the other side of her building. Both 25th Ave. S and Rainier have a lot of driveways with big trucks, SUV's full of fast-food consumers, and heaven knows what all crossing the sidewalks at all angles. The ONLY plus of this routing is that the grade works better for people in wheelchairs.
Crossing Rainier at Bayview suits RantWoman better than at McClellan, possibly just because there are fewer directions cars come steadily from and also because there is no gnarly left-turn cycle, fewer people who want to floorboard their right turns after infinitesimally short stops, and not even as many buses who pull into the crosswalks. There are a lot of driveways this direction but fewer tree roots playing havoc with the sidewalk. This route is basically tolerable until one crosses McClellan but more on that in a moment.
--Item: The new Forest St. bus facility is open. That is, the orange barriers are gone and the traffic light across Rainier is working though there are no buses through there yet. RantWoman uses the word "facility" with extreme caution. It's basically a parking lot with a couple narrow, sidewalk-sized bus islands with iron rails on one side in the middle of the parking lot. There are driveways on both the Rainier and MLK sides of the place and as you can tell from RantWoman's comments above, this sort of arrangement excites RantWoman so very much! There are no bus shelters, no trash cans, no awnings, no trees, no shrubbery, NOTHING to remove the location from RantWoman's "Avoid like the Plague" list. RantWoman is especially peeved about this because this "facility" is supposed to replace a wonderful expansive, comfortable bus stop well separated from traffic on the N side of Rainier and McClellan. This "facility" is also supposed to be a key node in transfers between bus routes and Light Rail and is the terminus of several soon-to-be revised routes. When RantWoman is at her most low-key, she recommends just booking public meetings about the place as standup comedy; that would make more sense than trying to pretend the place is anything more serious than a project that suddenly ran out of oomph at a really key juncture.
--Next consider Forest St. itself and the Forest St crossing at Rainier. RantWoman had gotten spoiled by the row of orange traffic barriers across Forest St. along Rainier. For a time when RantWoman got off the train, she could simply walk under the tracks, cross Forest St, and spend a few more seconds in relative quiet before venturing into the land of tire stores, lawn mower rental options, and the world's trashiest extra narrow bus stop alongside the din of a busy street. (RantWoman is all for tire repair and lawn mower rental; she is NOT for traffic problems.) This week RantWoman noticed that the traffic barriers are gone and the traffic signal is working so one can cross Rainier at Forest St. RantWoman imagines this is supposed to be good news. RantWoman notes that Forest St. is by far not the only problem.
--Item: The other day RantWoman, Thwack and Travelling Buddy who probably really does need some flags for her wheelchair were busy going south between McClellan on our way to a Light Rail expedition. There was a bus pulling away from the bus stop and RantWoman thinks some car trying to turn left off Rainier into one of the driveways. RantWoman has a sense of being very lucky the car driver saw her party. RantWoman is still not charmed and is filing the experience in her shockingly large basket of gripes and grumbles about the Mount Baker Station especially since she sees no way anything about the Forest St. Bus facility is going to help.
--As if the situation on dry sunny days were not bad enough, RantWoman notes all the signs of shifting seasons, receding daylight and impending onset of the season of slop and muck. In RantWoman's ever febrile fantasy life, she would so like to be able to walk out the north end of the light rail station, to go straight toward the stores instead of some impossible zigzag route, and to trundle along sheltered by the buildings and skip all the opportunities to walk along Rainier getting splashed with traffic slop and flashed with car headlights. But perhaps for now RantWoman will simply stop and go play in the sunshine before it runs out for the year.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Cellphone-induced Ranting
The Rant family, RantWoman, RantMom and all of little sister's household are on the threshold of Decisions about cellphone plans and cellphone equipment.
Arriving at this juncture is half a choice, half not. We have all been coexisting remarkably well on a Qwest family plan for almost the length of the original contract. RantMom has delighted in being able to call her children easily. Little Sister has thrived in her capacity to talk endlessly while in transit, while juggling other calls from her adoring public, talking to her husband, her kid's school, a whole constellation of medical providers and bureaucracies. Even RantWoman has on balance been grateful for this round of foray in to mobile phonery.
We have been coexisting well on the same plan, but we had already decided we should not overdo it. Then our wireless provider started sending out printed alerts and text messages reminding us ever more forcefully that we need to Make a Change. We are likely to stick with the option taking over as wireless partner for current service. For one thing, if we all change in the same direction, we will get unlimited minutes talking to each other. There is just nothing like unlimited opportunity to inject one side of the family drama du jour into the hustle and bustle of a crowded bus.
Little Sister and her household get to figure out their own options. RantWoman has a little been fretting about RantMom who does not search the internet and really, really, really prefers talking to a human in person or promptly on the telephone, thank you very much. Last night RantWoman and a buddy paid a visit to a Verizon retail outlet. A charming young man tells RantWoman that RantMom can just bring her old phone in and swap it for a comparable model! RantWoman will suggest RantMom look at the list and decide cautiously if they try to upsell her but RantMom is a grownup and can decide on her own about that. More importantly, Verizon has a senior citizens plan which will save RantMom a chunk over previous plans. This all sounds GOOD!
So now we come to RantWoman. RantWoman has been busily paying the same price as everyone else, in effect subsidizing the rest of her family's convenience in trying to reach her despite the fact that RantWoman has absolutely no way of using half the features that are supposed to send cellphone users into orbit. RantWoman is happy enough with tactile buttons that light up and with a setting that displays the time, the number being dialed, an incoming number and incoming text messages in a size RantWoman can approximately with great difficulty read.
However, RantWoman's phone features a whole macrame project of menus and services that RantWoman can do little more about than poke through. RantWoman cannot read the menus. RantWoman cannot interact with the address book.RantWoman cannot even see to SEND outgoing text messages. There is a a manual in microscopic print that possibly explains a few buttons RantWoman still has not figured out. RantWoman has thought of fishing around on the web for a copy of the manual she can read. She has NOT thought of subjecting RantMom to an manual-reading tortures. In other words, RantWoman is decidedly underwhelmed.
By amazing internet coincidence, RantWoman has been talking with a few other people who are decidedly underwhelmed for exactly the same reasons RantWoman is underwhelmed. One of them has even gone to the trouble of filing a complaint with the FCC. For various reasons, RantWoman does not have standing to join this specific complaint, but RantWoman really does want the forces of competition to get their collective acts together.
RantWoman really does not want to have to file complaints with anyone. RantWoman does not want to scream her screen reader over acres of telco fine print to sort out equipment specs and contract esoterica. RantWoman wants to be able to walk into the phone store like any ohter human being, encounter a knowledgeable salesperson familiar with accessibility features, put her hands on a couple different models and then get on to making choices about other aspects of service.
While we are at it, RantWoman wants, in no particular order:
--options to display ALL menus and interfaces in 3-4 different sizes with a context-sensitive arrow around option if needed to make more of an item understandable.
--some key sequence that can be pressed for audible indications of signal strength / lack of signal / roaming issues
--a similar key sequence for info about battery status and audible alerts if the battery is running down.
--talking caller ID and an accessible way to set short audible signals for numbers in one's address book. RantWoman has heard of ringtones. She would really like an accessible way of setting up ringtones.
--An option to read every menu item aloud
-- each number should be spoken (RantWoman's current phone does do this.)
--options for reading incoming and outgoing text messages aloud or in enlarged format.
--full screen reader access for email or internet applications and functionality.
RantWoman really wants all these features built into her phone for the same price as everyone else pays for crap RantWoman cannot use. RantWoman has no desire to pay full price for a bunch of stuff she cannot use and then have to buy a top-end phone AND pay $300 extra for software to use features everyone else takes for granted.
RantWoman does not think she or anyone else should have to buy any particular phone (usually not cheap) or any particular plan with features and minutes she may not need in order to get the phone.
RantWoman can fathom the possibility of hooking her phone up to her computer to do SOME of setup items listed here, but if that is the approach used, RantWoman should not have to pay extra for the dumb cable needed to make the hookup.
More rotten truth: RantWoman wants a Blackberry and knows there is not yet any screen reader for the Blackberry. RantWoman also wants a Netbook though she suspects that she needs to beef up the RAM to run a screen reader, software she already owns. In both cases the monthly service charges might give RantWoman heart failure. RantWoman is also totaling all these wants and issues up in her head and MAYBE she is going to try some version of "Let's make a Deal." Just watch!
Arriving at this juncture is half a choice, half not. We have all been coexisting remarkably well on a Qwest family plan for almost the length of the original contract. RantMom has delighted in being able to call her children easily. Little Sister has thrived in her capacity to talk endlessly while in transit, while juggling other calls from her adoring public, talking to her husband, her kid's school, a whole constellation of medical providers and bureaucracies. Even RantWoman has on balance been grateful for this round of foray in to mobile phonery.
We have been coexisting well on the same plan, but we had already decided we should not overdo it. Then our wireless provider started sending out printed alerts and text messages reminding us ever more forcefully that we need to Make a Change. We are likely to stick with the option taking over as wireless partner for current service. For one thing, if we all change in the same direction, we will get unlimited minutes talking to each other. There is just nothing like unlimited opportunity to inject one side of the family drama du jour into the hustle and bustle of a crowded bus.
Little Sister and her household get to figure out their own options. RantWoman has a little been fretting about RantMom who does not search the internet and really, really, really prefers talking to a human in person or promptly on the telephone, thank you very much. Last night RantWoman and a buddy paid a visit to a Verizon retail outlet. A charming young man tells RantWoman that RantMom can just bring her old phone in and swap it for a comparable model! RantWoman will suggest RantMom look at the list and decide cautiously if they try to upsell her but RantMom is a grownup and can decide on her own about that. More importantly, Verizon has a senior citizens plan which will save RantMom a chunk over previous plans. This all sounds GOOD!
So now we come to RantWoman. RantWoman has been busily paying the same price as everyone else, in effect subsidizing the rest of her family's convenience in trying to reach her despite the fact that RantWoman has absolutely no way of using half the features that are supposed to send cellphone users into orbit. RantWoman is happy enough with tactile buttons that light up and with a setting that displays the time, the number being dialed, an incoming number and incoming text messages in a size RantWoman can approximately with great difficulty read.
However, RantWoman's phone features a whole macrame project of menus and services that RantWoman can do little more about than poke through. RantWoman cannot read the menus. RantWoman cannot interact with the address book.RantWoman cannot even see to SEND outgoing text messages. There is a a manual in microscopic print that possibly explains a few buttons RantWoman still has not figured out. RantWoman has thought of fishing around on the web for a copy of the manual she can read. She has NOT thought of subjecting RantMom to an manual-reading tortures. In other words, RantWoman is decidedly underwhelmed.
By amazing internet coincidence, RantWoman has been talking with a few other people who are decidedly underwhelmed for exactly the same reasons RantWoman is underwhelmed. One of them has even gone to the trouble of filing a complaint with the FCC. For various reasons, RantWoman does not have standing to join this specific complaint, but RantWoman really does want the forces of competition to get their collective acts together.
RantWoman really does not want to have to file complaints with anyone. RantWoman does not want to scream her screen reader over acres of telco fine print to sort out equipment specs and contract esoterica. RantWoman wants to be able to walk into the phone store like any ohter human being, encounter a knowledgeable salesperson familiar with accessibility features, put her hands on a couple different models and then get on to making choices about other aspects of service.
While we are at it, RantWoman wants, in no particular order:
--options to display ALL menus and interfaces in 3-4 different sizes with a context-sensitive arrow around option if needed to make more of an item understandable.
--some key sequence that can be pressed for audible indications of signal strength / lack of signal / roaming issues
--a similar key sequence for info about battery status and audible alerts if the battery is running down.
--talking caller ID and an accessible way to set short audible signals for numbers in one's address book. RantWoman has heard of ringtones. She would really like an accessible way of setting up ringtones.
--An option to read every menu item aloud
-- each number should be spoken (RantWoman's current phone does do this.)
--options for reading incoming and outgoing text messages aloud or in enlarged format.
--full screen reader access for email or internet applications and functionality.
RantWoman really wants all these features built into her phone for the same price as everyone else pays for crap RantWoman cannot use. RantWoman has no desire to pay full price for a bunch of stuff she cannot use and then have to buy a top-end phone AND pay $300 extra for software to use features everyone else takes for granted.
RantWoman does not think she or anyone else should have to buy any particular phone (usually not cheap) or any particular plan with features and minutes she may not need in order to get the phone.
RantWoman can fathom the possibility of hooking her phone up to her computer to do SOME of setup items listed here, but if that is the approach used, RantWoman should not have to pay extra for the dumb cable needed to make the hookup.
More rotten truth: RantWoman wants a Blackberry and knows there is not yet any screen reader for the Blackberry. RantWoman also wants a Netbook though she suspects that she needs to beef up the RAM to run a screen reader, software she already owns. In both cases the monthly service charges might give RantWoman heart failure. RantWoman is also totaling all these wants and issues up in her head and MAYBE she is going to try some version of "Let's make a Deal." Just watch!
Light Rail the RantWoman Station Tour
RantWoman has now at least visited every station along the current Link Route. Among the high points:
The bus tunnel is old-hat. On last night's right, RantWoman and Travelling Buddy encountered a couple visiting from out of town who made one perfectly obvious observation: there is nothing at the tunnel stations to indicate where to wait for the train. The answer: basically in the middle of the platform between the two existing bus stops.
RantWoman is not even going to speculate about how a need for some indication of where to catch the train in the tunnel got overlooked. Well, RantWoman supposes that this is based on an assumption that buses will soon no longer be in the tunnel and signs can then be relocated. RantWoman actually, speaking only for herself, unencumbered by full details of whatever thinking is behind this intent, actually wishes buses and trains could co-exist in the tunnel at least until other links of the Light Rail get added to the system. Why? The tunnel channels a lot of people away from really crowded surface bus stops. When rains set in, the tunnel is dryer and more sheltered. With the trains, the tunnel is open anyway so why not use it?
But onward on our stop-by-stop tour:
Stadium station: RantWoman has not actually disembarked at Stadium Station, but she has ridden other transit in the same area and the effect is similar: lots of buses and traffic, and ways to cross the street at only one end of the station. This area is not a place one would expect a lot of pedestrians but in addition to two Metro bases and the stadiums, there are a couple businesses. RantWoman can more or less live with long walks to visit these businesses but the cumulative effect would not make RantWoman want to locate a business that depends on a lot of pedestrian traffic in this area.
Stadium proximity is a different point. RantWoman herself is thoroughly sports- challenged. RantWoman does not even feign interest in more than offbeat commentary about any sport where the ball is smaller than her head. RantWoman also is decidedly unconvinced about stadiums' priority in deciding how to allocate scarce taxpayer dollars. But RantWoman makes game efforts to stay present in conversations where some of her friends wax enthusiastic distressed or whatever the team status at the time demands about local sports teams.
More interestingly for RantWoman's fixations on pedestrian vigor and the joys and benefits of walking, RantWoman notes one story she read somewhere about people who attend professional sports events actually being comparatively healthier and more fit than the general population and this despite the sedentary nature of sports spectating and the array of calorific snacks on sale at the average stadium. RantWoman notes that merely being able to afford tickets can be an indicator of comparative affluence, also associated with better than average health status. However, professional sports events, (RantWoman has attended exactly one in her entire life, but has also observed a lot of game-goers assembled at various bus stops) are intrinsically social. More to the point, by the time one parks many blocks away or rides transit and walks several blocks between transit stop and stadium, one has certainly wracked up a good dose of one's recommended daily walks. This alone sometimes causes RantWoman to mellow out about other commentary.
Sodo:
More loud noises, trains, buses, place to cross the street at only one end of the station. RantWoman tolerates a certain amount of urban rumble. Mainly, RantWoman really likes speedy travel to many different things in Sodo though she also notes the routes to Sodo destinations are darn short of things like awnings for when the winter rains set in.
Beacon Hill:
RantWoman finally visited the Beacon Hill station the other night. She really likes the artwork and the go with the underground theme. RantWoman has the feeling that this station is one of several where a lot more out of station interest will bloom now that the Light Rail is open. RantWoman likes this part of Beacon Hill and hopes to visit often.
RantWoman did decide just to walk down the hill from the Beacon Hill station toward home. RantWoman needed the walk, but the sheer grade of her path reminded RantWoman the night of the walk and via her upper thighs for several days after that she is no mountain goat. RantWoman would like to see some more pedestrian-friendly routes evolve between Beacon Ave S and Rainier in this part of town. That is not necessarily the problem of Light Rail, but RantWoman is enjoying some fantasies.
Mount Baker: this is the station closest to where RantWoman lives. RantWoman has so much to say about this station that it gets its own rant(s)!
Columbia City:
RantWoman would really like to be able to walk away from the station reasonable on either end, especially since she likes being able easily to go to the Columbia City commercial district.
Othello:
RantWoman visited this area several times. The traffic signal timing is difficult, too short for many people to get across the whole street. RantWoman and others have commented extensively about this in person. RantWoman is unclear why the problem is so much more obvious at Othello than at other stations; perhaps RantWoman just has gone both directions, east and west, more times than at other stations.
RantWoman actually took RantMom to an Othello station public event last summer. RantWoman and RantMom needed a cheap excursion and the weather was wonderful. RantWoman really likes the diversity of the area. RantMom was a little less charmed than RantWoman partly because one food store had odors a little past RantMom's definitions of food. RantMom can enjoy diversity at other destinations; RantWoman will keep her eyes out for her own reasons.
Rainier Beach station:
RantWoman for some time inexplicably thought the Rainier Beach station was at Rainier and Henderson instead of MLK and Henderson. RantWoman had a recent Sunday night misadventure based on this misapprehension but her internal maps are reset. Now that bus routings will soon switch to nodes around the new station, RantWoman could theoretically check a little more carefully. Well, she could but the route switches do not kick in for a couple more weeks....
Tukwila International Boulevard. RantWoman has already ranted here: http://rantwoman.blogspot.com/2009/07/light-rail-tourism.html and has nothing new to add.
Stay tuned
The bus tunnel is old-hat. On last night's right, RantWoman and Travelling Buddy encountered a couple visiting from out of town who made one perfectly obvious observation: there is nothing at the tunnel stations to indicate where to wait for the train. The answer: basically in the middle of the platform between the two existing bus stops.
RantWoman is not even going to speculate about how a need for some indication of where to catch the train in the tunnel got overlooked. Well, RantWoman supposes that this is based on an assumption that buses will soon no longer be in the tunnel and signs can then be relocated. RantWoman actually, speaking only for herself, unencumbered by full details of whatever thinking is behind this intent, actually wishes buses and trains could co-exist in the tunnel at least until other links of the Light Rail get added to the system. Why? The tunnel channels a lot of people away from really crowded surface bus stops. When rains set in, the tunnel is dryer and more sheltered. With the trains, the tunnel is open anyway so why not use it?
But onward on our stop-by-stop tour:
Stadium station: RantWoman has not actually disembarked at Stadium Station, but she has ridden other transit in the same area and the effect is similar: lots of buses and traffic, and ways to cross the street at only one end of the station. This area is not a place one would expect a lot of pedestrians but in addition to two Metro bases and the stadiums, there are a couple businesses. RantWoman can more or less live with long walks to visit these businesses but the cumulative effect would not make RantWoman want to locate a business that depends on a lot of pedestrian traffic in this area.
Stadium proximity is a different point. RantWoman herself is thoroughly sports- challenged. RantWoman does not even feign interest in more than offbeat commentary about any sport where the ball is smaller than her head. RantWoman also is decidedly unconvinced about stadiums' priority in deciding how to allocate scarce taxpayer dollars. But RantWoman makes game efforts to stay present in conversations where some of her friends wax enthusiastic distressed or whatever the team status at the time demands about local sports teams.
More interestingly for RantWoman's fixations on pedestrian vigor and the joys and benefits of walking, RantWoman notes one story she read somewhere about people who attend professional sports events actually being comparatively healthier and more fit than the general population and this despite the sedentary nature of sports spectating and the array of calorific snacks on sale at the average stadium. RantWoman notes that merely being able to afford tickets can be an indicator of comparative affluence, also associated with better than average health status. However, professional sports events, (RantWoman has attended exactly one in her entire life, but has also observed a lot of game-goers assembled at various bus stops) are intrinsically social. More to the point, by the time one parks many blocks away or rides transit and walks several blocks between transit stop and stadium, one has certainly wracked up a good dose of one's recommended daily walks. This alone sometimes causes RantWoman to mellow out about other commentary.
Sodo:
More loud noises, trains, buses, place to cross the street at only one end of the station. RantWoman tolerates a certain amount of urban rumble. Mainly, RantWoman really likes speedy travel to many different things in Sodo though she also notes the routes to Sodo destinations are darn short of things like awnings for when the winter rains set in.
Beacon Hill:
RantWoman finally visited the Beacon Hill station the other night. She really likes the artwork and the go with the underground theme. RantWoman has the feeling that this station is one of several where a lot more out of station interest will bloom now that the Light Rail is open. RantWoman likes this part of Beacon Hill and hopes to visit often.
RantWoman did decide just to walk down the hill from the Beacon Hill station toward home. RantWoman needed the walk, but the sheer grade of her path reminded RantWoman the night of the walk and via her upper thighs for several days after that she is no mountain goat. RantWoman would like to see some more pedestrian-friendly routes evolve between Beacon Ave S and Rainier in this part of town. That is not necessarily the problem of Light Rail, but RantWoman is enjoying some fantasies.
Mount Baker: this is the station closest to where RantWoman lives. RantWoman has so much to say about this station that it gets its own rant(s)!
Columbia City:
RantWoman would really like to be able to walk away from the station reasonable on either end, especially since she likes being able easily to go to the Columbia City commercial district.
Othello:
RantWoman visited this area several times. The traffic signal timing is difficult, too short for many people to get across the whole street. RantWoman and others have commented extensively about this in person. RantWoman is unclear why the problem is so much more obvious at Othello than at other stations; perhaps RantWoman just has gone both directions, east and west, more times than at other stations.
RantWoman actually took RantMom to an Othello station public event last summer. RantWoman and RantMom needed a cheap excursion and the weather was wonderful. RantWoman really likes the diversity of the area. RantMom was a little less charmed than RantWoman partly because one food store had odors a little past RantMom's definitions of food. RantMom can enjoy diversity at other destinations; RantWoman will keep her eyes out for her own reasons.
Rainier Beach station:
RantWoman for some time inexplicably thought the Rainier Beach station was at Rainier and Henderson instead of MLK and Henderson. RantWoman had a recent Sunday night misadventure based on this misapprehension but her internal maps are reset. Now that bus routings will soon switch to nodes around the new station, RantWoman could theoretically check a little more carefully. Well, she could but the route switches do not kick in for a couple more weeks....
Tukwila International Boulevard. RantWoman has already ranted here: http://rantwoman.blogspot.com/2009/07/light-rail-tourism.html and has nothing new to add.
Stay tuned
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Google book scanning next episode.
RantWoman is decidedly soap-opera-impairedm at least when it comes to consumption of daytime dramas or even some of the ones that bleed into prime time TV. One reason RantWoman still succeeds in meeting her minimum daily requirement of soap operas is her fascination with the frontiers between technology and older concepts. Today's episode: the following item about Google's efforts to scan all books everywhere.
http://tjantunen.com/2009/09/02/access-denied/
RantWoman herself is not particularly in a position to comment in depth but has put the whole issue on her to-watch list.
In the interest of solidifying her nerd credentials, RantWoman also notes that meaty problems like the ramifications of different approaches to electronic access are exactly the sort of entertainment RantWoman relies on to keep her brain from running out the window during many of her exotic and enxtended transit adventures. RantWoman will somewhere else hold forth on why the bus sometimes compares favorably to stuffy conference rooms as a venue for such mental excursions.
Today though RantWoman will note in passing that, charmed as she might be by electronic access, part of the unique wonders of libraries is putting one's hands on artifacts. In this connection RantWoman notes the New York Times regrets that recently retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter has donated his personal papers to the NH historical society and pointedly disinvited the interested public to put their hands on the papers for 50 years. From extreme access, copyright be ... to no access in one day. Take your pick
http://tjantunen.com/2009/09/02/access-denied/
RantWoman herself is not particularly in a position to comment in depth but has put the whole issue on her to-watch list.
In the interest of solidifying her nerd credentials, RantWoman also notes that meaty problems like the ramifications of different approaches to electronic access are exactly the sort of entertainment RantWoman relies on to keep her brain from running out the window during many of her exotic and enxtended transit adventures. RantWoman will somewhere else hold forth on why the bus sometimes compares favorably to stuffy conference rooms as a venue for such mental excursions.
Today though RantWoman will note in passing that, charmed as she might be by electronic access, part of the unique wonders of libraries is putting one's hands on artifacts. In this connection RantWoman notes the New York Times regrets that recently retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter has donated his personal papers to the NH historical society and pointedly disinvited the interested public to put their hands on the papers for 50 years. From extreme access, copyright be ... to no access in one day. Take your pick
Blindness Blogger blogs in British!
RantWoman is charmed by this blog:
http://www.actionforblindpeople.org.uk/news/blog/
True, it most assuredly is in British and if you cannot translate "lift" as elevator or parse the terms of British social welfare for the blind, this may not be the blog for you. For RantWoman though this blogger makes her smile and speaks truth. That is enough for now.
Well, no it's not. Although RantWoman is an avowed practitioner of US English, at times it is in her interest to be at least minimally conversant in the UK variant. So reading this blog counts as work-related research too
As far as why RantWoman does not make blogroll on her RantWoman blog, RantWoman has too many blogs she is interested in. One of these days, RantWoman will add a list of links by category and blogs she likes will show up at Blogger Mutual Admiration Society.
Enjoy.
http://www.actionforblindpeople.org.uk/news/blog/
True, it most assuredly is in British and if you cannot translate "lift" as elevator or parse the terms of British social welfare for the blind, this may not be the blog for you. For RantWoman though this blogger makes her smile and speaks truth. That is enough for now.
Well, no it's not. Although RantWoman is an avowed practitioner of US English, at times it is in her interest to be at least minimally conversant in the UK variant. So reading this blog counts as work-related research too
As far as why RantWoman does not make blogroll on her RantWoman blog, RantWoman has too many blogs she is interested in. One of these days, RantWoman will add a list of links by category and blogs she likes will show up at Blogger Mutual Admiration Society.
Enjoy.
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