September Ocotober Events from the Blind Connections newsletter

 Posted as is. 

Note. First event a hearing at Seattle City Council on Friday September 12

What's the news: Library funding

From ACB

Dear Colleagues:

I’d like to share some remarkable news regarding the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). First, after more than five months with little to no communication from the IMLS, in July funding reimbursements from IMLS began again with regularity. This may be because the end of the federal fiscal year is September 30,, 2025 and despite the efforts to defund IMLS as outlined in Executive Order 14238 this funding was previously approved by Congress for museums and libraries across the country. There are also several pending lawsuits regarding this action.

 

On the evening of 9/2/25, the FY2026 budget took a huge step in the right direction for IMLS. The House Appropriations released its version of the FY 2026 budget bill that includes $291.8 million for IMLS. In its version the Senate included $295 million for IMLS funding. This is a $3 million reduction from the previous year but it’s a major turnaround from the President’s budget which included $6 million to shutter the agency.

 

There is still a ways to go. The marked-up version of the bill goes to the full House next Tuesday and then we await the reconciliation of the House and Senate budgets. But this is promising news and we’ll keep you updated as we learn more.

 

Thank you to everyone who took the time over the past few weeks to contact Congress. It has made a difference.

 

What's the event: Seattle urban forest hearing

Seattle’s trees are on the line. On Friday, Sept 12 at 3 p.m., the Seattle City Council will hold a hearing on the comprehensive plan that will shape the future of our urban forest.

Seattle City Hall

  We will bring signs and have talking points.

Two Key Amendments

City Council will soon vote on the comp plan zoning and amendments that could make or break Seattle’s climate resilience. Two key amendments would be huge wins:

•              Amendment 93 → Guarantees greenspace on every lot. Without it, 95% of every lot can be paved, cementing in a future without greenspace or even soil.

•              Amendment 102 → Brings Seattle up to other cities’ tree protection standards (think: NYC, Boston, Portland), closing three glaring loopholes in our tree ordinance.

 

Can’t join us in person? Send an Email to: council@seattle.gov

 

Thank you for caring about Seattle’s irreplaceable urban forest.

 

What's the Event: Paid research opportunity for National Parks

There are two opportunities for paid research assistance with a national park project, via both synchronous focus groups and an asynchronous online survey, coming up in late September and October.

 

Because this is all for the same park, I only can hire each individual for one or the other, a focus group or a survey, so if you are interested, please let me know, and let me know if you want to participate in a focus group (online, via Zoom, for about an hour), or an online survey (asynchronous, I'm guessing this survey also will take about an hour). Or you can say, either, and I can fit you into the one that needs the most help. Because the focus group is synchronous and probably a bit more strenuous, the stipend is higher.

 

Focus Group (15 slots available): ~1 hour, online, synchronous, via Zoom, a discussion of media-accessibility issues related to visiting a national park, stipend: $50.

 

Online survey (30 slots available): ~1 hour, online, asynchronous, via our online uReview system (same as the Description), a discussion of media-accessibility issues related to visiting a national park, stipend: $25.

 

Best wishes,

 

Brett Oppegaard, Ph.D.

He/Him/His

Founder | Executive Director of Access Hound

360-521-8150

brett@accesshound.com

 

What's the event: White Cane Day, October 11.

New White Cane Day merch is here!

We are thrilled to share our 2025 Logo!

This design was submitted by Seattle area artist, Laura Graden-Cotts.

Description: Logo-style illustration within a black circle. In the center, two white canes, on with a red tip one without, are crossed diagonally creating quadrants. Surrounding the canes are four images: a green pine tree at the top, a brown guide dog with a harness on the right, a blue mountain range with snow caps at the bottom, and an orca whale on the left. Below the circle, in bold black text, it says "WHITE CANE DAY" and beneath it, "2025" is written in a thinner font.

 

You can purchase your White Cane Day 2025 merch via Bonfire

 

Purchase soon to ensure your order arrives before the event. Merch will not be available at the event due to logistics.

 

Event Information:

You don't need to join us for White Cane Day 2025 to purchase a shirt, but we'd love to have you!

Registration is highly encouraged: https://shorturl.at/eM1Un

Event Date: Saturday, October 11th 2025

Event Address:

Starting: South Base of the Space Needle near the Howard S. Wright Memorial Fountain: 400 Broad St, Seattle, WA 98109

Ending: Washington Talking Book and Braille Library (WTBBL): 2021 9th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

Timeline:

•              9:00 am - 9:50 Arrive at starting place

•              9:50 - Official Group Photo

•              10:00: The Walk begins!

•              10:45 : Speakers at WTBBL

•              1:00pm Event ends

WTBBL will host a reception and a vendor area! Details to come!

We are working to make this event more youth friendly! Stay tuned for more information.

You Cane Give Initiative is sponsoring a cane drive for this event! Wondering what to do with that old cane you no longer use in the closet? Is that drawer of used canes collecting dust and taking up space? Donate your old canes to the “You Cane Give” program. And turn that old cane into newfound independence for individuals in need.

 

Thanks,

White Cane Awareness Network Team

Questions? Ideas! Email us: white.cane.awareness.network@gmail.com

 

What's the Event: Deep Dive conference

The Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium (SCAC) invites you to be part of the 3rd Annual Deep Dive Day Conference, happening Thursday, October 16, 2025, at Town Hall Seattle. We are excited to be expanding this year's conference to a day-long convening with a larger space available. We are continuing the theme of Sustaining Accessibility in Challenging Times and our goal is to bring together accessibility champions across the arts and cultural

sector to advance accessibility and inclusion.

Registration for Deep Dive Day will open on September 4! We hope you will attend this

important and fast-growing conference!

With gratitude,

The team at Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium (SCAC)

 

What’s the Event: audio described opera

Seattle Opera offers one performance per mainstage opera at McCaw Hall with audio description. Using an infrared headset, patrons who are blind or have low vision can listen to a live, verbal description of actions, costumes, scenery, and other visual elements of a performance. The description begins 10 minutes prior to the start of the performance.

Patrons who wish to listen to the description must pick up a headset. Headsets are distributed free of charge and can be requested ahead of time using our request form. Availability is on a first-come, first-served basis. You may pick up your headset from the assistance booth (around the corner from coat check) located on the main entry level of McCaw Hall. Please ask for a headset with audio description.

The following performances will offer audio description. Description begins at 1:50 PM, ten minutes prior to each of the following 2:00 PM Sunday matinee performances:

·         The Pirates of Penzance—Sunday, October 26

Amazon Day Round THREE

Remember Adventures of RantWoman: AGAIN, Amazon? AGAIIN?

 It's way past RantWoman's email witching hour so RantWoman is ignoring her inbox.

RantWoman digressed from daily #Russia #Ukraine war video / Ukrainian independence day diet for The Insane Mystic Folklore Fuelling Putin’s War in Ukraine

Russian STATE TV HACKED- Show's War's REALITY!!

Soooo. RantWoman offers the world Amazon round 3, no thank you USPS.

1. RantWoman now has the three items, a lovely package of snacks and two items that RantWoman would not be thrilled to have to carry home. Hence the enthusiasm for DELIVERY.

2. Thank you to the very courteous human who helped RantWoman just request a refund after sharing a tale of woe involving the US Postal Service and zero likelihood that RantWoman's items would get delivered  by the next Amazon Day.

3. RantWoman also splurged on several mor pairs of fingerless gloves because they are brilliantly helping RantWoman keep nasty thumb arthritis at bay. RantWoman mentions the gloves because their packages would in fact neatly fit into RantWoman's mailbox.

fingerless gloves, round 1

More and better reserve gloves

So capitalism is making RantWoman happy and therefore all should be right with the world?


NOT SO FAST. The world needs one last round of RantWoman vs the Post office.

Inspired by her previous success with the bar code, RantWoman decided that, when in front of a bigger screen she would see about creating a USPS login and see whether she could induce the mail carrier to deliver RantWoman's package. RantWoman succeeded in creating an account on the USPS website. RantWoman even got to a page about something to do with delivery with notification.

But...no matter what RantWoman did, she got a message about something like "cannot set this at this time."

Really?  

RantWoman had good intentions about trying again during some traditional business hour.

Later that night, RantWoman decided "to heck with the post office" and grabbed her phone to text for help.

RantWoman got help. RantWoman appreciated help. MAYBE RantWoman will remember to call the postal service during reasonable daylight hours. Maybe.

Blind Barbie® gets dressed for the WA Council of the Blind convention, October 24 at the SeaTac Doubletree

Please note: this post is about Barbie® and Barbie, theme and variations with no trademark.

Readers who want to skip the Barbie® commentary may like to head straight for convention info.

Click for actual information about the 2024 WA Council of the Blind Convention

Readers interested in listening in can find a live stream on ACB Media 9 or by asking your smart speaker to play ACB media 9

Blind Barbie®

Blind Barbie ®

Blind Barbie, as introduced in July

Blind Barbie dressed for comfort

Barbie gets dressed for the WA Council of the Blind Convention

(Fashion offerings by one of RantWoman's collaborators in "good trouble.")

Earthy lattice background and some kind of metal planter with a plant

Visor to protect against migraines caused by fluorescent lighting. Also useful for helping corral hair.

Really awesome glasses / sunglasses: people who both wear glasses and use white canes exist. RantWoman is one of them.

Convention nametag

Sweatshirt for comfort when one should not attempt a bare midriff or when one expects one might encounter drafts or cold air streams

Somewhat shortened white cane. Cane length preferences are very individual.

comfortable capris

Sandals that look more or less comfortable if one actually does heels. Sandals not super practical since it's supposed to rain this weekend, but the convention is all indoors.

Should other Barbies® such as Chicken Farmer Barbie® or Astronaut Barbie® or Dentist Office Barbie® want to attend, they are also welcome.

Okay, okay the Barbie® world needs some other role models that RantWoman has not discovered:

Olympic Boxer Barbie

Olympic Shot putter Barbie

Jazz trombonist Barbie

Dungeons and Dragons spell casting Barbie

Cyberpunk Help Desk Barbie.

RantWoman invites readers to consider who else should be part of the Barbie® world.

One reason RantWoman asks who else should be a part of the Barbie® world: RantWoman has always had sort of a vexed relationship with Barbie®.

The RantSisters had dolls we quite liked: Little Sister had two respectable sized dolls named after the aunts who stayed with the RantFamily while attending the college where RantDad taught. The dolls were big enough that RantMom considered sewing clothes for them. They also had feet they could stand on. RantWoman had a different doll she was fond of.

One Christmas season, someone in the RantFamily circle decided the RantSisters needed Barbies®. RantWoman received a brunette doll with a simple royal blue dress. Little Sister received a blond Barbie® RantWoman' does not remember asking anything of her Barbie® except to stretch her legs and sit serenely in as much calm as RantWoman could manage on the RantSisters' shared desk.

RantWoman does not remember what Little Sister's Barbie® wore. RantWoman only remembers that Little Sister was in a phase of interest in cutting her own hair. Little Sister also thought Barbie® needed a haircut. Little Sister's hair grew out. Little Sister's Barbie on the other hand, spent her entire existence with a very asymmetrical style long before asymmetrical styles became fashionable.

The RantSisters' Barbies® also, horrors, never got new clothes: RantMom was not willing either to buy more clothes or to sew them new clothes.

And guess what: the RantSisters did just fine without any fancy wardrobe additions. The RantSisters' Barbies® also, thankfully, avoided some of the cruel barbarities some of RantWoman's college counterparts inflicted on their barbies®. The world is grateful.

Value Village, PLEASE train your staff. Man kicked out of store over service dogs | FOX 13 Seattle

Person with a disability. Dogs trained for a specific task. That should be a no-brainer.

The clerk kicking this man out of the store and then going over to laugh with his co-workers is over the top, SO offensive.

Value Village needs to train ALL its staff at least at that store. It would be nice if they figure out they need to do this without someone having to file a civil rights complaint.

Discover Ambutech’s Full Range of Mobility Canes and Accessories! | Find...

Just in time for #WhiteCaneDay2024

2024 is the 60th anniversary of #WhiteCaneDay

Look for more reflections over the next few days as #WhiteCaneDay is observed in different places.

Please enjoy a whole bunch of white cane vocabulary.

Despite the esoteric terminology, there is plenty more info to be learned about cane travel. Just not tonight.

Day 9 with some Cyber security awareness month to distract me

Pay attention to the above advice because it was collected while brain is not quite all there.

Day 9. Yesterday's test was defective. Today's still has two stripes though the test one is lighter.

Not really spiking fevers but temp regulation is a little off, possibly just because of not enough exercise.

In person event tomorrow. Find one of the good two-layer masks with a wire over the nose.

Give self the option of staying home.

No I still have not contacted my health care provider.

Day 6: Masks and chopped celery

Covid test card

 The last few tests, the second bar appears almost as soon as the test solution hits the card. This one took awhile.

Weird because I still feel a little #COVID y

Lungs keep clearing.

A little achy but the same taste I always get with tylenol.

Finally decided to go ahead and order vegetables. I should have waited because friends offered. But chopping and freezing celery and green peppers feels like needed exercise.

Cognitively, somehow misjudged distance. Bumped a neighbor who told me to go take a nap. But definitely had brain cells for next in a series of COOL software trainings.

Topical Rant

RantWoman HATES paper masks.

RantWoman dislikes waste and feeling forced into disaster capitalism.

RantWoman finds paper masks irritating.

RantWoman hearts cloth masks

any mask is better than no mask.

Enough said.

Do the Puyallup???

RantWoman does not apologize if the title is an out of date advertising slogan.

 Forget RantWoman's flirtation with the idea of a Friendly Neighborhood Center for Extreme Computing expedition to Burning Man.

Forget the biomedical fantasy of 3-printing new body parts to spec.

This week's task is, on short notice, consider a group trip to the Washington State Fair Events Center - Puyallup, WA (thefair.com) 

Today RantWoman only cares about the transportation piece. Can a group of people with wheelchairs and sundry mobility aids travel together, arrive not completely exhausted, have decent time to have fun at the fair, and get home at a reasonable hour?

Can RantWoman learn anything about such options from the fair website? Uhhhh, download an app and here are the instructions for PARKING. Also try Uber or Lyft.  No mention of bicycles. No mention of transit options let alone the transit stops.

Did RantWoman mention mobility aids?  Are Uber and Lyft known for reliable capacity to serve people with mobility devices? NO!!

So F+ about helping people with disabilities and other non-drivers make travel plans. Luckily RantWoman is persistent and has her fingers on many look up a routing options.

One website implied that there are special Sounder runs every 4 hours but RantWoman on first pass has not identified any such. Oh wait, maybe RantWoman needs to put the right date into the trip planner.

Both SoundTransit.org and FindARide.org/tripplanner suggest basically the same 3 bus routing as the simplest. Remmember, RantWoman is talking a GROUP of people with different mobility devices. RantWoman's experience: wheelchair accessibility on some SoundTransit coaches, especially the ones that serve intercity routes leaves a lot to be desired. Ideally for group travel, a driver might deploy the ramp once, get everyone onto the bus and secured and then take up the ramp. The thought of using a lift one at a time for more than about two wheelchair users per trip is just too painful to contemplate.

But wait: there MIGHT be a vehicle? Can it go outside of King County? Stay tuned.. 

In the meantime, add bus-sized autonomous flying carpets to innovations that might someday emerge from RantWoman and her neighbors.

Moscow Shooting | Russian Misinformation | Day 759 PLUS there WAS an ad for Rokid VR glasses

#CrocusCityHall #AI

RantWoman is posting this here both to document the outrageous events before the Piknik  concert at Crocus City Hall in Moscow and because of the ad for smart eyeglasses that appeared when RantWoman first viewed the video.

RantWoman is both curious and HIGHLY skeptical about the high tech glasses.

RantWoman also wants to put a pin in the question "What should be required before smart eyeglasses technology  smart enough to allow blind people to drive relying on it. But in the meantime, beware the disinformation.

With that, a dry but nonetheless disturbing commentary about the Crocus City Hall attack

Happy Leap Day COVID anniversary

 #LeapDay #LeapDay2024 #COVID #Pandemic

Today in history; The USA’s first known lethal COVID-19 outbreak, at a Kirkland, Wash. nursing care center, is announced Feb. 29, 2020. https://t.co/VNrhkIgu3I

— Mike Lindblom (@MikeLindblom) February 29, 2024

Seattle Times article

NO! RantWoman is not exactly nostalgic for pandemic lockdown, but the item popped in RantWoman's Twitter.

Plus RantWoman still means to post about themes from last year about this time, minus the #LeapDay

Use the hash tags or the words COVID and Pandemic to find past RantWoman offerintgs.

From last year:

RantMom's retirement community is, cross fingers, coming out of 10 days of dining room closure because a cluster of RantMom's neighbors who all sat together in the dining room as well as 5 staff all recentlyy tested positive for COVID. This time it wasn't RantMom, but somehow there are anniversary vibes in the air.

(Four) years ago, many of RantWoman's Asian neighbors had already been masking for weeks. 

There was the dinner with RantMom and her debate-watching buddy two weeks before..., the last name in the newspaper, the "i'm not surprised" phone conversation with the retirement community medical director while RantWoman was on a bus to buy cat food ahead of pending lockdowns. Here though are some idiosyncratic reflections:

Special shout-out to all the transit and delivery drivers and other essential workers who kept life sort of manageable.

The masks

RantWoman still has in various pockets, an assortment of masks:

--the folded bandana and ponytail holder effort RantWoman tried for awhile.

--The whcked out of new black T-shirt material items that RantWoman's blind nurse friend sent around to the local chapter of the WA council of the blind.

--Several different homemade and commercial cloth masks. A couple of the homemade styles were well-meant but not functional for instance because of ties made of slippery ribbon. Some of the commercial ones have sensible elastic at the ears though some of the elastic has long stretched beyond usefulness

--Several different paper disposable ones. RantWoman is not charmed by the mandate to buy paper masks in the first place. Cloth masks, while imperfect are better than nothing and in many cases more comfortable than paper ones. RantWoman also tends to save paper masks she has acquired, figuring they will be good in an emergency or at least interesting relics.

Mail order shoes

RantWoman is VERY glad both to have found a couple reliable mail order shoe options and to have a couple Nordstrom gift cards she needs to march down and spend for a real custom fit experience.

RantWoman has more to say about the inadequacy of online ad copy, the problem of fitting feet that are slightly different sized, and which footwear elements do or don't easily adjust. But not today.

Stimulus payment clothing

RantWoman feels VERY lucky to have been able to renew her entire wardrobe from the skin out with mail order options.

The Bed from Amazon

Previous bed installation adventures

Weird food notes:

RantWoman mostly did okay about food options or at least does not remember the worst frustrations.

RantWoman still has a whole unopened bag of spicy dried pea packets. RantWoman will either save them for the next disaster or one of these days reconstitute them and see what they can be turned into.

Other food note: a whole lot of Reese's peanut butter cups, curiously accompanied by weight loss, probably from drinking less soda and hopefully not from losing muscle mass.

The college admissions Interview questions:

RantWoman is an alumni interviewer and every year interviews a number of students applying to her alma mater. RantWoman finds the interviews really rewarding and the applicants have been gracious about answering RantWoman's standard question about how did they fare. Some found the period a time of intense personal growth, either from some kind of self-betterment or from figuring out what connections they really needed to preserve. Others just found online school a long slog. RantWoman wonders how the pandemic will look 20 years ago, the way others remember the 1968 democratic convention, the moon landing, the space shuttle catastrophes, 9/11....

And then there's the next disaster, whatever it is

Event agenda

Josh Johnson: What Did Y'all Do To Elmo? + Stanley Cups Are Jordans For White Women

#BlackHistoryMonth #BlackHistoryMonth2024

One of RantWoman's current fave young comedians.

Not turning into an icicle outdoors and the virtues of Boiling water?

Today's view off the balcony:
the 'hood below freezing

#DeepFreeze day2+  #wawx 

True confession: RantWoman STILL has not turned on the heat in her apartment.

RantWoman has, though, boiled water a couple times for tea. After reading the Cliff Nass post above, RantWoman figures a good tea kettle full of boiling water probably helps up the indoor humidity at least a little.

Digression: RantWoman lives in multi-family housing. At one point during the pandemic RantWoman's sink clogged and a friend suggested pouring boiling water down the drain a few times a week. RantWoman home science project theory: besides loosening any potential clogs, probably regular gushes of boilind water also deter the sort of insect guests one definitely prefers not to invite in.

Back to surviving what is a deep freeze for Seattle but positively tropical compared to, for instance, multiple cities in MT.

RantWoman slept REALLY well!

RantWoman's morning info streams: much freezing of water for chickens, sugar solutions for hummingbird, clouds of boiling water and lattes. 

RantWoman's household temp indicator: the Nutella in the cupboard is MUCH harder than average.

RantWoman also evaluated her schedule and needed travel and decided to go ahead and wash hair.  

Task 1: comb out and braid hair without getting whatever one is going to wear out of the house wet enough to turn entire body into an icicle. RantWoman has a half worn-out sweater that is perfect for this.

Next, long pants and two layers of t-shirts. 

Then sweater long enough to cover thighs or hoodie.?

Hoodie and also hat partly to minimize heat loss related to damp braid.

Was the fleece vest overkill? The good glovers were in its pockets but RantWoman needs to remember to carry her phone on top of any layers she wants to zip or button.

Top off with the yellow allergic to getting run over raincoat and windbreaker.

Off to the bus stop.

Gloves definitely needed travelling with Ambassador Thwack, the badly behaved white cane. #CaneTravel

Cold air is SO energizing.

Live for once without obsessive need to check expected bus arrival time. RantWoman has seen cool gloves with velcro flaps on the index finger but decided to be perfectly happy keeping her hands in the bright pink gloves she has.

Coming home, RantWoman opted for a couple blocks walk over the closest bus stop. By this time, RantWoman was not super eager to flirt further with icicle status. 

The bus came, delivered RantWoman to her stop. RantWoman ALWAYS thanks the bus driver. RantWoman will always do this reflexively although RantWoman thinks that level of interaction would likely be missing from a robot bus experience. Sigh.

For reference about relative humidity indoors and out.

Cliff Mass weather blog about "dry storm."

And after watching a demo of a new product called BeMyAI, one of these days RantWoman is going to see what the AI makes of all of Cliff Mass' maps.

KEEP WARM. Listen to Beau for tips

First the science:

Cliff Mass about this year's Arctic Blast

Next a TON of good advice.

Beau is one of RantWoman's YouTube heroes. He probably has some kind of military background. RantWoman has not checked and is guessing based on comments and presentation style. Beau posts LOTS of videos answering civics questions and commenting about current events. He treats questions VERY respectfully and responds in ways that make his views clear and aim to evoke dialogue.

So follow this channel and the other one mentioned in the background info. RantWoman only occasionally looks at the second channel, and recommends it regardless.

And here he is nice enough to offer REALLY solid survival tips for people who as he puts it "put on hoodies when it gets to be 60 degrees, and also nice enough not to mention and extra zinger for people in TX whose electrical system still has not been upgraded after the last blizzard. Slow learners?

Next, Day 1+ of RantWoman and the #DeepFreeze

True confession: a LITTLE bit of snow and very crisp cold air makes RantWoman giddy and nostalgic for reckless youth when walking a mile+ to school in cold weather was just what she did. The nostalgia does not last long, but RantWoman feels entitled to savor it.

Thursday, RantWoman went to her beloved neighborhood TacoTime in midafternoon for a late lunch. There were a few small fallen branches from recent winds in places. The sun was stillshining gloriously between patches of cloud as RantWoman walked home. There were also enough snowflakes, to mean it in spite of the sunshine but unlike some other area weather extravaganzas friends reported, not enough snow to cover anything. By the time RantWoman walked the 2 blocks home, the temperature already started to drop!

RantWoman opted not to do all the adjustments that prudence requires to turn on the heat in her apartment. Instead, RantWoman decided to pretend to relive a few winter months in grad school in Leningrad / St. Petersburg. The dual names are mostly a date reference. Dorm room windows were, um, not tight. Local bedding was duvets rather than full length blankets common in the US. RantWoman definitely remembers sleeping in more clothing than she does at home--except for severe Arctic blast conditions.

That was fine for the first night. It probably is going to hold for the second night but tomorrow, when RantWoman is home more of the day, the heat WILL definitely get turned on.

RantMom reports that heat in her apartment is fine. The rest of her building has old building problems that are definitely one factor behind a looming relocation for RantMom and tear down and rebuild of the building. RantMom reports fortunate food arrangements and offerings of hot tea. RantMom also opted not to venture out. Little sister is alive and well and responding to RantWoman's silly gifs in texts habit so RantWoman has not yet checked whether Little Sister also experiences the small bouts of cold weather giddiness.

Also on RantWoman's mind: a definitely not securely housed friend with PTSD and views about the second amendment that are not compatible with rules in some housing options. This person lives in their car. RantWoman checked and today friend has a place to be warm. Friend is VERY resourceful and, RantWoman can offer hangout space over the weekend.

Tonight RantWoman warmed up her kitchen turning a bunch of ingredients into enough  chicken black bean corn stew for several days.

Yesterday, RantWoman went down a list of contacts who might appreciate the King County Public Health latest email with its MANY resources in multiple languages. Check especially for recommendations to avoid Carbon monoxide poisoning.

RantWoman also inventoried her collection of cords and adapters and will be able to make her crank radio charge things if necessary. RantWoman's laptop battery does not hold a charge very well, but RantWoman realized her building has a generator. If power goes out there are a few circuits besides the elevators that still work. So RantWoman WILL relax..and go to sleep...

Will RantWoman go anywhere in the morning. RantWoman has one in-person item on her calendar that involves easy bus rides to and fro. BUT with the most severe temps promised on Saturday, RantWoman may walk back the in-person option and suggest a virtual alternative.

Will RantWoman do laundry? Maybe?

Will RantWoman wash her hair? Ummmm

Happy Saturday

Holiday prep: gifts, FOOD, and MAYBE a piece of gear for RantWoman

RantWoman is trying fitfully to get into the holiday spirit. Warning, fgrinchiness available in other posts.

First it's gifts for the fam.

RantWoman so far is falling down about tradition as far as socks for brother in law

RantWoman is a slow learner about the guys and T-shirts. RantWoman is trying a different neckline than last year BUT is trying again about the same sizes. Hint to irrepressible Nephew from Preacher Auntie: they make tall size clothing. It looks GOOD on you.

Little sister, after years of appreciating dish towels this year says "Please no more dish towels."

She and RantMom may be in for mail order sleepwear and mixed format Braille art calendars from American Printing House for the Blind, that is if RantWoman can successfully place an order.

RantWoman almost forgot the new pup! Gah! Good thing there is another week until Christmas.

and snacks or whatnot for the stockings??? Nephew is doing Keto. Brother in Law likes sardines. Not sure what Little Sister is eating. As for the whatnot...stay tuned.

Holiday FOOD

RantWoman MAY make some chocolate chips and condensed milk fudge but will have to find other people besides the fam to share it with.

RantWoman MAY also make some quickbreads: banana poppyseed; pumpkin; cranberry. That will happen after the Christmas day feast.

Ditto for the fam's favorite cut out cookie recipe.

RantWoman is agreeable about a feast featuring salmon and butternut squash.

RantWomanWILL bring cranberry relish. No it's not keto. No RantWoman also is not spiking it. RantMom does not go for that kind of thing.

Most interestingly, since nephew is doing keto RantWoman grabbed a search engine and boldly stepped out into the jungle of recipes for Keto-friendly side dishes, and preferably ones that won't give the non-keto eaters heart attacks just thinking about saturated fat.

So far:

--Onion rings dipped in egg and coated with a mix of almont flour and crumbled pork rinds that at LEAST can be baked in a hot oven instead of fried.

--Broccoli bacon cheese bake.

--zucchini gratin with no bacon

--garlic butter green beans sprinkled with toasted almonds.

--keto garlic mushrooms

--Keto roasted asparagus with parmesan cheese.

Okay, okay, RantWoman can probably figure this out.

And finally, an item for RantWoman's wish list.

RantWoman is intrigued by this white mobility cane.

RantWoman sometimes would really like a white cane that can travel even more compactly than the 5 section collapsible ones she has.

RantWoman would definitely prefer solid white to aluminum and white rings.

RantWoman is not charmed by complaints here about how badly the tip wears.

RantWoman does not live in a place where it gets cold enough very often to need to wear gloves but can cope if necessary.

However, RantWoman looked this cane up on Amazon and put one in her preferred length in her wish list to think about after Christmas and software renewals and ...

Titanium telescoping cane

Jaahnavi's story 8 months later: body cam video

RantWoman missed what sounds like a wonderful Cascade Bicycle Club presentation about walkable cities. Instead RantWoman and Thwack the cane went out into sunshine and braved the oozing Denny Way rush hour marmelade of transit, single occupancy vehicles, and the occasional other form of mobility to attend the #JusticeForJaahnaviKandula event at Dexter and Thomas.

Various observations from the event and many strands of media. 

1. Massive shout-out to @DivestSpd, @EricaCBarnett and other dogged journalists for staying on the story, to the conscientious police department staffperson who flagged the video documenting outrageous comments. RantWoman apologizes: at time of writing she has not found all the citations that turned up earlier and will update with the articles she is looking for.

2. RantWoman wonders how many people besides RantWoman and one of the speakers were at the  vigil partly because someone(s) close to them have been killed or badly injured in some kind of #TrafficViolence

3. The part of Dexter where #Jaahnavi was killed is still a construction mess. It has evolved a bit since January. Then RantWoman put on her best #DressLikeATrafficCone hi-vis fashion gear and dragged @AmbassadorThwack the white cane out into the cold to go try to find another vigil. RantWoman did not find the vigil. RantWoman did find various indicators of construction. RantWoman also walked up one side of Dexter to Mercer and down the other side. Sidewalk quality was medium crappy in places. A traffic signal at Dexter and Thomas, in particular an Accessible Pedestrian Signal (#APS) would be lovely. The temporary barriers that will turn into a protected bike lane are to be treated with care by pedestrians during rush hour.

4. It's not a walkable city if a person can't walk home at night without getting mowed down by a police cruiser who apparently was rushing to an apparently not super emergency call without sirens and gunned his engine to 74 mph just as he hit the intersection

5. It's not a walkable city if an investigation of a pedestrian traffic death is lackadaisical, profunctory, and chock full of people who already have problematic history in the line of duty. Add blame the victim spin such as understating the killer driver's speed or the distance traveled by the body and dawdling 3 months about a toxicology test for the pedestrian killed.

6. It's not a walkable city if the President of the Seattle Police Officers Guild is too busy going on Fox news and complaining about Black Lives Matter, urban stresses and whatever all comes up that rantWoman has so far ducked away from. What should he actually be doing to address gun violence, record pedestrian deaths, ...?

7. It's not a walkable city if the City Council can't negotiate a police contract with both teeth to deal with bad behavior and incentives to recognize people doing a good job.

8. It's not a walkable city if police all over the city, not just Officer Dave the night #Jaahnavi was killed, are in the habit of turning on lights and sirens for short bursts just long enough to get through intersections when they don't want to wait for the light. RantWoman has observed this a number of times in her neighborhood. Occasionally, police leave their lights and sirens on, indicating they are probably actually going to a call. Other times, RantWoman peculiarly wishes the siren were an ambulance or fire truck because at least those drivers leave their sirens on long enough that RantWoman can assess peril and adjust her travel accordingly.

This concludes this episode of Dial a Tirade. DO BETTER PEOPLE!

Below are a number of media citations including occasional further commentary.

 January 2023 Seattle times: officer who killed student identified

Before that reported by @DivestSPD and Publicola

January 2023 Seattle Times What police have said so far

September 2023 Seattle Times" Investigation occurring

Fox 13 report 9 13 2023

NBC News reporting

KIng 5 reporting 9 13 2023

Some comments from Indian Press. 

How many Indian families send their children to Seattle for school and to work in the software industry. Cops who cannot treat all lives as valuable should NOT BE COPS.

Hindustan Times: India fumes, seeks probe

WION: Seattle cop makes racist remarks

Mirror Now: Cop laughs

NDTV: Gruesome deaths. Where does the buck stop?

OneIndia News

Story mentions involvement of the Consul General in San Francisco.

Mirror Now Why did the US cop...after mowing down student

India's tough message to US after student's death

News9 Live

In-Person Global Accessibility Awareness Day with the Tasker Center May 19

#GAAD #GAAD2023

 RantWoman has a conflict and is sharing this invitation

Would you like to join us on Friday, May 19th for a GAAD (Global Accessibility Awareness Day) celebration through community conversations, or are you interested in participating in a co-design study for the AccessMap Multimodal Trip Planner, or both?

What to expect at TCAT's GAAD event, on May 19th, 2023?
Activities:

Spotlight Co-Design Sessions--
One-on-one 50 minute interviews will take place with participants who signed up (you still can!) to take part in the co-design sessions for the AccessMap Multimodal interface. This is our new customized trip planning and routing application that will integrate pedestrian routing with transit station information, general transit and on demand transit. Participants will be separately reimbursed $50 in gift cards for their time joining this study. If you are interested in joining the study but have not yet signed up, fill out this form. Link to the form: https://forms.gle/58acVfyysWh4KJow7

Mainroom conversations--
From 10:30am-11:30am in the mainroom (Gates 371) attendees will discuss inaccessibility in transit stations, specifically focusing on attributes of the station that should be put on maps (examples: where tactile paving is and isn't available, where braille displays of schedules are available, powerchair plug locations). Discussion of real time operational status of elevators, is unfortunately, not in scope for this conversation.
From 1:00pm- 2:00pm in the mainroom (Gates 371), we will report to our community about the conversations we have had in the past year at the intersection of access to transit, race and disability. We called these conversations "Civic Changemaking Through Storytelling And Open Data." We wanted to discuss the future of these conversations with you, and incorporate your interests and ideas. 

 
Lunch
Lunch from the Microsoft Cafe will be reimbursed, up to $20 in value, for non-UW participants. Please see details below.
See more on parking and logistics below.
Thank you for your continued engagement with TCAT's community of practice on accessibility-first transportation data! 
-------------------------------
Event Location:
 Bill & Melinda Gates Center For Computer Science & Engineering. 
Main room: 371 (third floor)
Event time: 10:30am-2:00pm for main conversations. CoDesign participants will receive a separate email with their interview time.

If you are not UW-affiliated, TCAT would like to cover your parking and lunch costs. 
To get parking costs covered, please:
 1.   Go to a UW gatehouse (all the UW entrances have a gatehouse)
 2.   Please let the Parking Specialist know that you have a parking code - "278475" 
If you do not have a state-issued disability placard, tag, or license plate, Central Plaza Garage is the closest parking lot (~8 min walk). If you have a disability placard, tag, or license plate, N22 is the closest large parking lot available (~4 min walk). You are also welcome to park in any disability parking stall available, here are a few that are very close to the venue:
C14 and C15 (3 disability parking spots):
Link to UW map https://www.washington.edu/maps/#!/c14
Link to Google map https://goo.gl/maps/kMvdj3jRQ76DdAdx6
C15 parking lot about a 2 min walk away (3 parking spots):
Link to UW map https://www.washington.edu/maps/#!/c15 
Link to Google map https://goo.gl/maps/6usYJLag4WkLm74x7
To get lunch costs covered, please:
1. At lunch please join us in going to the Microsoft Cafe in the same building as the meeting
2. We are sorry that this is inconvenient, but you will have to purchase the lunch yourself and then give us the receipt for reimbursement.

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you need help with directions to the Bill & Melinda Gates Center For Computer Science & Engineering. 

We hope to see you on the 19th!

Anat Caspi, PhD
Director, Taskar Center for Accessible Technology
Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington

caspian@cs.washington.edu

Opportunity for readers in or near MASSACHUSETTS to participate in a research study about flat-screen devices

 RantWoman expects to be nowhere near MA on the dates this study is scheduled for but the topic interests her so this item is getting posted in hopes that it finds interested blind people.

Opportunity to Participate in a User Study at the Carroll Center for the Blind

We are excited to announce a unique opportunity for members of the Carroll Center for the Blind community to participate in a user study conducted by the Toyota Research Institute (TRI) in partnership with the University of Maine. The study will take place at the Carroll Center for the Blind located at 770 Centre Street, Newton, MA 02458 and will last for roughly one hour per participant between Monday, 3/27/23, and Wednesday, 3/29/23, between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM. The study has two concurrent research topics: Accessible Information Access on Touchscreens: Maps Accessible Information Access on Touchscreens: Graphs and Data Visualization Participants will be randomly assigned to either Study A or Study B, and compensation will be provided in the form of a $100 Amazon e-gift card. We are looking for participants who are interested in contributing to our efforts to better understand nonvisual interaction with visually presented information on touch screen devices. If you are interested, please complete this participant recruitment form. If you have any questions or would like additional information, please do not hesitate to reach out to Paul.fink@maine.edu or Nick.corbett@carroll.org. We look forward to working with you on this exciting project! Sincerely, The Carroll Center for the Blind