Ad copy, shoes, and

We interrupt RantWoman's current capriciously curated timeline of current events to discuss consumer level SHOPPING, drinking vessels, footwear, and perhaps other moments.

Meet the Yeti Rambler
Insulated ceramic mug

The Mug

The mug in the picture: one example of exactly why sometimes one should just GO TO THE STORE IN PERSON. RantWoman got the mug in the picture while attempting to buy shoes in person, NOT MAIL ORDER at REI. The mug, an assortment of energy bars, and who knows what else were all impulse items cheerfully lined up along the lines to check out.

(Also available: wonderful cotton tote bags with the kind of long handles that put weight on shoulders rather than wrists. Now if only people printed their canvas bags with some kind of hi-vis elements in the design. RantWoman digresses, with more non-driver perspective.)

RantWoman prizes the mug for the slide opening in the lid. RantWoman takes note: the lid design is EXTREMELY important on water bottles, travel mugs, etc. Online ad copy almost never describes lid / cap design in anywhere near enough detail to figure out how the particular drinking vessel works without putting one's hand on the vessel and trying out all the different components.

The Beach Towel and the sleeping bag

Apropos of nothing, there is a certain edgy sense of adaptation about being able to get a good night's sleep under a beach towel in modestly heated accommodations on the edges between seasons. 

Yeah. Sure. And after decades of sleeping under a beach towel at certain events where one has some kind of bed is expected to bring one's own bedding, last year RantWoman found a magnificently functional sleeping bag on sale at REI. RantWoman still brings a fitted bottom sheet. RantWoman does not open the bag all the way so her feet stay warm, but RantWoman is pleased finally to be able to wrap up without fretting about something getting too cold.

Shoe quests

RantWoman was thinking about this after another recent REI order, one she just sent to the store. Silly RantWoman. Just have things delivered.

Except

Except RantWoman has been looking for shoes, shoes that are wide enough, shoes that have barely any drop from heel to toe, and shoes that manage her instep well enough that her foot does not slide forward and mash her toes by the end of the day.

RantWoman once had a lovely experience at REI buying sandals with a customer service person who told RantWoman he had a wider version of the sandals she wanted that turned out to fit perfectly. Shoes wear out. RantWoman took her feet back to REI, scored one sale pair of sandals and a recommendation to experiment with mail order for another style she tried on. RantWoman had no patience about trying that style by mail order but did find a LOVELY pair of Birkenstocks that she guessed, correctly it turned out, would work even though RantWoman was not sure about the size.

RantWoman decided to take her chances on picking her order up at the store, mainly so she could immediately return them if they did not work. At the initial shoe quest visit RantWoman discovered that key bus stops were again open. The second visit RantWoman was on the way home from an event and a little tired. RantWoman really wanted just to go to the mail order pickup and not have to walk all the way through the store.

Memo to self and other non-driving customers: call ahead and your mail order items can be brought to the front customer service. Also memo: there is an entry path from the corner nearest to the #8 bus stops that is smooth all the way to the elevator and otherwise accessible to people who prefer not to do stairs and are not using all the bicycle and foot paths that are part of the REI complex. 

RantWoman here is going to skip some awkward details involving a venture onto an unknown path, ROCKS that Ambassador Thwack did not find, gravity, and two very helpful women from REI security. There was a certain amount of paperwork to do on a bench. RantWoman opted not to go in and be tempted to buy more energy bars. RantWoman's mail order package was brought out. One of the security women offered an ice pack for some skinned knees. RantWoman sat massaging her knees but declined the offer because she did not want to add anything to carry home. Also, it turns out that RantWoman is not the only person who just uses packages of frozen vegetables when ice packs are needed.

After the paperwork, RantWoman fussed with all the buckles on the Birkenstocks she ordered and decided they would work well enough to take home. At home, a bit more fussing with buckles, and RantWoman is HAPPY at least about a sleeping bag and some footwear. Now back to the rest of the timeline?

White Cane Awareness Day October 17. Register Now!

 Always an excellent way to experience an assortment of important pedestrian details

Register for White Cane Day Walk 2026 Join us October 17th for our annual White Cane Day Walk! Starting Location and Ending: Washington Talking Book and Braille Library (WTBBL) 2021 9th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121 Schedule: 9:00 am - 9:50 Arrival and check in 9:50 - Official Group Photo  10:00 - The Walk begins 10:45 - Guest Speakers at Westlake Plaza 11 - 1 pm - Vendor hall and activities (upstairs at WTBBL)

Register Here

Our famous White Cane Day swag is back!  Purchase NOW to get your swag in time for the walk!  https://www.bonfire.com/store/white-cane-day/ Special thanks to Erin Groth for this year's design:  Image Description: Jimothy, a round cartoon raccoon walking to the right. Jimothy is gray with a dark mask around the eyes and dark rings on its tail. He is holding a white cane with a red bottom section and a white tip, angled down toward the lower left. Behind the raccoon are several diagonal white lines, parallel to each other, slanting from upper left to lower right, creating a crosswalk style background. Curved text above reads: “White Cane Day” Text near the lower right of the design reads: “2026”

We are in need of volunteers!  Your role as a volunteer role may include Walk Ambassador - Walking with participants and monitoring for safety. High viz vests and whistles will be provided. Some participants may request human guide.  Assisting with snack line - Describing what food is available, helping participants get food and seating Guiding participants from conference room to upstairs, directing people to the bathroom etc Clean up as needed at the end of the event

Volunteer

White Cane Awareness Network is a small non profit. We rely on sponsorships and donations.   If you are interested in having a table at our upcoming event or sponsorship you can find out more here:

Register to host a booth

Donate

Thank you so much, White Cane Awareness Network

Historylink walking tours

RantWoman is out of town, but here is a REALLY COOL local resource with an app to play all the video tours.

Enjoy

 HistoryLink Tours — Self-Guided Historical Walking Tours of Washington State

Rest in Power KL Shannon

Whose Streets? Our Streets! is deeply heartbroken by the recent loss of our co-founder, KL Shannon. WSOS is more than an organization, we are a family.
KL believed our communities deserve a voice and a seat at the table when decisions are made about our streets, our safety, and our lives.

She lived those beliefs by dedicating her life to bringing people together and building up the next generation of organizers and leaders. KL taught, mentored, connected, and poured her heart into others because she knew a movement becomes stronger when we build each other up. 

WSOS and so many of us are more informed, more connected, and more empowered because of her. KL intentionally nurtured, taught, and mentored youth in order to make our communities stronger, more powerful, and more sustainable. She did not hesitate to stand up for what is right.

Now is the time to honor her legacy through action.

Get informed. Get involved. Speak up against injustice. Organize and fight for what is right. Transform systems Hold leaders accountable. Bring your community to the table and make your voice heard. Safer and more equitable streets are built when communities stand together and demand the change we need.

KL’s leadership, passion, and love for our community will continue to guide this movement.

Rest in eternal power, KL. 

Whose streets? OUR STREETS!

The Power of Red Paint

#BusOnlyLane #TrafficCongestion #JourneyMap

RantWoman is delaying posting this item in recognition of the floods of news about how the #911 terror attacks impacted people's public transit experiences in both NYC and Washington DC.

#NeverForget

Metro Prevails in 'Race the L8' Rematch Thanks to New Bus Lanes

As an aside, please pay attention to the invitation to contribute financially to The Urbanist

Phew. RantWoman was afraid she might have missed a big transit party, but the news that creating a bus only lane for part of the Metro Route 8 is only a couple days old.

RantWoman is happy to let the two items above tell the story with a couple asterisks.

Plus one stop; Minus One.

YAY! Back to having stops on both sides of Denny at Stewart Street. RantWoman was pleasantly surprised on a recent trip to REI to be able to get off the bus and find an easy smooth route to REI and a different slightly bumpier route back to her return bus.

And One down!

RantWoman did not get around in time to complain about Metro removing #8 stops on both sides of 6th and Denny.  This kind of stop consolidation is a measure often done to improve ontime performance and the change predates Mayor Wilson's term. Sigh.

The westbound stop was sweet for times a group of blind people met regularly after work hours at a bar in Belltown. Those meetings are mainly virtual now anyway.

The eastbound stop is a bigger whine. RantWoman rides the E line downtown often enough that the stop at 5th and Wall was a really sweet way to connect with the eastbound 8 to go home. No streets to cross. Sidewalk in decent though never perfect condition. A wall to rest against if one did not want to sit all the way down on a bench.

There is an E line stop at 7th Avenue that would still connect with the 8--if one likes a couple complex street crossings. There are traffic signals but it is not an enjoyable experience crossing either Aurora or Denny there.

Instead, RantWoman can still get off the E line at 5th and Wall. RantWoman just has a longer walk N on 5th Avenue with either very lumpy cobblestones on the west side of the street or navigate a complex street crossing at 5th and Denny.

Sigh. Now RantWoman does her return trip by catching the 40 to the transit center, Link to a stop where she can catch the 8 OR RantWoman rides the E line a stop further to 3rd and Bell where RantWoman has several choices for the next leg of her trip and usually grabs whichever one comes along and takes her away from that stop as fast as possible.

Does RantWoman do bus or train? It depends. RantWoman tends to travel at times when Link is crammed inbound with people going to evening concerts or sporting events. RantWoman is glad Link is being used. Enough said? 

Oh, and RantWoman agrees: it is a HUGE relief to see that the bus lanes also make it much easier for ambulances to get past traffic clogs.

Excellent e bike irritation

#JournweyMap

E bike blocking sidewalk
at bus stop

Has RantWoman mentioned in, say, the last 10 minutes that she finds it really easy just indiscriminately to HATE all scooters, #BikeShare and EBike vehicles.

 The photo here is one reason why.

Will people want to walk along the sidewalk blocked by this #LimeBike? People getting off the back of the bus might.

RantWoman meant to post this a couple days ago in hopes that the sidewalk blocking bike renter would have opportunity to mend their ways.

Here, though, there is an aspect of celebration!

RantWoman came across this sidewalk impediment because, she had just left PT feeling great. Also the bus stop closest to her PT appointment was closed and RantWoman did not have the option of minimal walking with transfers from one route to another at the same bus stop. RantWoman was going to have to walk somewhere. She was actually THRILLED to be able to walk strongly all the way to the stop with the wayward EBike.

Two, count them two sets of compression bands

Very cool YouTube channel, and ...

 The First point: Check out the Living in Seattle with Sean McConnell YouTube channel. YouTube generously sent RantWoman this item about walkability. RantWoman is going to start here but YouTube promises other Seattle-themed videos that RantWoman will look at later.

A few fast points from RantWoman's entirely non-driver perspective:

Sean mentions WalkScore values for each neighborhood mentioned. RantWoman needs to check what exactly goes into WalkScore  because  in RantWoman's experience mileage will vary. 

Mileage will vary based on steepness of many walking routes, very uneven condition of sidewalks and level of traffic and road noise, as well as need for amenities like curb ramps and cycling infrastructure. 

RantWoman would find it interesting to think about these aspects of the built environment in relation to housing costs, but that analysis is not on the agenda tonight. 

Also, not on the agenda: the features of the exact routes a person will travel most often. This might be housing / work / school / shopping. Or, in the case of RantMom's last days, the RantSisters were glad to be able to place RantMom mid city at an Adult Family Home on Boyer Avenue in Montlake. The location was accessible both for RantWoman with white cane and Little Sister with her wheelchair. We also got intimately familiar with all sorts of sidewalk hiccups between the bus stop and the facility. At least RantMom was one bus away from the RantSisters instead of the much longer travel time to RantMom's previous retirement community almost to Renton.

RantWoman digresses but a big consideration in the RantFamily has been people who want to live close but not too close.

One interesting crowd source world for more information is a project through the UW Taskar center called AccessMap. More on AccessMap separately.

Last weekend RantWoman was invited to a potluck deep in residential Ballard, 10 blocks off 24th Ave NW. It was a bright sunny day. RantWoman figured in Ballard the odds of continuous if imperfect sidewalk routing to and from bus stops were decent. Google Maps was reasonably helpful. And that part of Ballard has glorious vegetation and magnificent views of Puget Sound.

RantWoman has a lot more to say about walkability for people of different abilities, but not tonight. 

One closing tip when making decisions about locations, go there on whatever mode(s) of transportation you are going to rely on. This may mean needing to tell a real estate agent "no thank you" about offers a ride, but it's going to be your housing.

And if transportation realities look less than optimal but you have energy for political engagement, a number of neighborhoods have very active community organizations working to upgrade problematic situations.

Another eldercare digression: the RantSisters rejected several adult family homes without even a visit because of travel time, iffy sidewalks, and steep grade between location and bus stop.

#JourneyMap

The Gordie Howe International Bridge

 RantWoman posts this item in celebration particularly of the bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure that are part of the newly opened Gordie Howe international bridge between MI and Ontario. 

It's a bridge!

RantWoman will try to resist the temptation to go off about all the political angles associated with the bridge opening. RantWoman is just glad it is open.

PLANTERS! But can something REALLY prickly get planted to prevent inappropriate "deposits?"

New Planters on the North side
of South Walker St.

 RantWoman has this apparently quaint expectation that she should be able to walk unimpeded from the back door of her building to a bus stop a mere block away.

RantWoman calls this a quaint expectation because the sidewalk and the adjacent street seem to look VERY appealing to people who need to park random vehicles, do inexplicable bicycle repairs and generally strew the details and accoutrements of their daily lives all over the sidewalk. 

Actually, RantWoman is being diplomatic and is deliberately not attempting in-depth analysis of what else goes on.

This is a long and sordid story and sometimes RantWoman has to vary her route to the bus stop if she cannot clearly tell that the sidewalk is passable. Needing to vary an intended route is doubly irksome because RantWoman lately has suddenly over the last several months been dealing with ARTHRITIS.

Anyway, RantWoman is VERY excited today to see brand new planters installed.

RantWoman will ask around but hopes that tending the planters are someone's Adopt-a-Street project because they WILL need regular attention.

RantWoman will also be thrilled if the planters get filled with something extremely prickly, like rosemary or ...to reduce anyone's temptation to make the sort of disgusting deposits that turn up when people do not have proper bathroom facilities.

Oh Good. HOPEFULLY less youthful stupidity.

 #EBikes

MInimal walking plus bananas.

 RantWoman's consumption of bananas has everything to do with how she COPES with everything there is to cope with. Details matter, both the product and how the product gets stowed in shopping bags to come home.

RantWoman's banana preferences: on the small side, slightly green so that a bunch will last several days without heading toward banana bread. These details are not to be found when ordering online.

Banana happiness

A couple weeks ago, RantWoman had an opportunity to bananas across the street from an event she participated in. Buying bananas there would have made bus travel home a breeze via one easy transfer. The bananas were perfect size. The transportation realities were perfect. The bananas were already way to yellow AND the price, even considering the time savings from not having to travel, was through the roof. So no bananas that time.

Things went much better Friday, but first the other point of the journey.

Friday, RantWoman had a long-awaited physical therapy appointment in theU district. RantWoman, thankfully, was able to walk from the bus stop to the clinic without massive pain. Thank you, YouTube coaching; at the time of the referral RantWoman had been in too much pain even to think about an outside referral. The therapist observed that RantWoman "walk(s) like someone with arthritis. Right. So glad you noticed.

RantWoman's experience is that physical therapists are VERY good at analyzing what might need stretching and what might need strengthening. In a couple cases RantWoman came home with suggested exercises that amounted to "Do what you are already doing but add resistance." RantWoman can do that! RantWoman is going to have to schedule in a little more time daily to add new exercises. 

A really cool angle about the exercises. First step: demonstrate and practice at the clinic. Second step an email exercise routine from a resource called Medbridge. RantWoman happily gave permission to send email. The link arrived. Heaven. Each exercise labelled with the recommended frequency and number of reps. The images were presented in clear simple graphics, with both audio and text. There is a browser version and an app version. The app even appears to hound the user and RantWoman is dutifully going to figure out the data recording as well as which exercises to rotate on which days. RantWoman is SO excited to try things.

RantWoman is getting ahead of herself though. Physical therapy takes a lot of energy. RantWoman clearly needs to do her exercises because even before the PT session, RantWoman has trouble standing too long. RantWoman left PT a little sore but energized. RantWoman thought of tackling a couple errands but did not argue when her body thought that was not necessary. Instead, RantWoman walked out of the clinic, found the bus stop, hopped one bus that took her to a bus with a perfect connection to a favorite banana buying option.

Here we come to...RantWoman's recommendations about packing bananas.

1. Bananas NEVER belong on the bottom of the shopping bag.

2. Never make a bunch of bananas rest only on the back of one banana.

3. Excellent banana packing is a little bit of an architectural exercise. Pack the bananas on top of other grocery items so that both the stem end and the other end bear the weight of the whole bunch. Pack the bananas over something sturdy enough to support the banana bunch.

RantWoman also has been encouraged to look for a water exercise class. Figuring this out and scheduling will take more time. With banana needs well metand well packed for the trip home, RantWoman is on it.

Bolivian Traffic Zebras!

 #JustAddZebras #VisionZero ? #Zebritas

RantWoman REALLY needs this. Watch the link at the bottom, not just John Oliver

Bolivians dress as zebras for traffic duty in congested streets of La Paz

SPOG says city's ICE policies put public at risk: Oh PLEASE

#ICE #SPD 

Oh Please

First, SPOG president Lim (?) apparently has not noticed issues such as ICE agents in masks and unmarked vehicles doing all sorts of tactical driving nonsense, swarming and ramming cars, failing to ducment, lying to children to entrap parents...  Should RantWoman go on?.

Today there is new reporting about people being hired into ICE , given badge and gun with nowhere near the level of vetting and training that SPD officers go through. And now SPD is expected to collaborate with these frauds in the name of protestor safety?? 

How far does anyone think that "collaboration" should fly?

At the Portland ICE facility, there is now an understanding that Portland police will interact with protestors about anything that is not federal property.

RantWoman has no information about protests at any ICE facility inside Seattle. Scratch that: recently someone was detained at immigration court while showing up as required at a hearing. Save that point for a different post.

RantWoman is not plugged into any protestor networks involved in the kind of swarm protests that rocked news cycles in Minneapolis, but at this point, RantWoman encourages people thinking about protesting not to be naive, to be aware of what they are getting into. 

And if police are worried about protestor safety, show up with body cam and dash cams ON. Be prepared to document situations. Start there. And do not try to spin collaboration with out-of-control thugs as "public safety."

Meanwhile, in MN

ICE Agent Criminally Charged!

Line 2 Opening Day Adventures!

 First, please enjoy this lively commentary with some fun, yes, fun engineering details about how actually a light rail on a floating bridge actually stays afloat. 

RantWoman also enjoyed some hints of festivity at stations she did not make it to. For more on the RantWoman experience, please read on the other side.

First in the world: How Sound Transit built light rail on a floating bridge

First the wardrobe, with thoughts of POSSIBLY stopping by a #NoKingsDay event: Nothing organization specific. A #WhiteCaneDay T-shirt under a hoodie that said "ICE OUT" in a long-winded, pedantic and harder to read way: "the GPS coordinates of your mother's cervix at the time of your birth have no bearing on your value as a human being." The hoodie turned out to be a great weight, warm enough in the morning, not too warm when the sun came out.

RantWoman is thrilled that the #CrosslakeConnection is open. RantWoman appreciated mostly cheerful sunny weather. RantWoman definitely applauds all the parents getting kids started early, even the tiny ones who fell asleep on the bus or while waiting for the bus.

RantWoman probably has some "Dear Accessibility community...here is an opportunity to preview..." email she has not read. RantWoman and Ambassador Thwack the #WhiteCane caught a bus unencumbered by much knowledge of the day's schedule. Plus RantWoman wanted to check out the Rainier Avenue entrance to the Judkins Park station.

Meh. Whose bright idea is it to put the bus stop nearly a block away from the light rail entrance. RantWoman will be interested to see what actually happens about scooter and biker share users stowing their vehicles in the designated areas.

Also, issue a bullhorn for the nice woman whose job it was to stand behind the pull down barrier and tell people over and over that the opening of that entrance was going to be delayed.

Never mind the delay. Hanging out where RantWoman was turned out to be an easy way for friends to find her.  Excitement was contagious, even with the heavy crowds and long waits

RantWoman had an invite to an opening day meet and greet but realized that sleep was going to have to take priority. RantWoman also had to decide not even to try to get into a line to walk up the hill to the 23rd Avenue entrance where people were allowed to board sooner than from Rainier.

After about the third delay in the promised opening, with the line getting longer and longer, RantWoman decided to skip the thought of any inaugural ride. Instead, RantWoman did an errand involving the 7, the E line, a detour for lunch at IHOP and an ibuprofen, Despite some nasty pain issues, it felt good to walk to catch the 40 to Northgate. 

The southbound 2 line was already packed, but RantWoman basically zoned out. At every station, lots of people got off, but an equal or larger number got on. RantWoman was lucky to have a seat. RantWoman would have preferred to face forward, but managed with a side seat.

RantWoman would like to say the view over the lake was glorious. RantWoman would like to say that, but the train was too crowded to catch more than a glimpse of sky and open water, with views of trees as the train rolled through to Bellevue City Center. RantWoman decided that was as far as she needed to go before heading back to the Judkins Park station.

Score a couple bright spots:

--After seeing construction for quite awhile, it was nice to see the train actually serving downtown Bellevue.

--RantWoman likes that the platforms seem wider than  some other stations and that there is more space for people both to stand and to navigate along the tactile warning designs in the floor.

--It was fairly easy to find the elevator(s?) to go up and over to the return side of the tracks. One small grumble: RantWoman's glasses had turned dark but the hallway to the elevators could maybe use a little more lighting.

On the way back, RantWoman wanted to get off on the 23rd avenue side of the station so she purposefully headed for one of the rear cars. Again, the train was packed. A very observant guy indicated a seat next to him and then, when it was time to get off, stood and loudly asked people to move so RantWoman could get off the train. 

Next, walk the direction everyone was headed toward the exit. Locate the elevator(s), again in a hallway where RantWoman might want a tad more lighting. Out the door, across the plaza, hoepfully to catch the #8 bus southbound. That was not to be. After various wanderings and directions, RantWoman decided to just take the 48 NB from the stop she could actually find and pick up the 8 at Jackson as part of her quest for bananas.

From there, life was easy. The only minor hiccup: somehow the pavement in the crosswalk at MLK and Union is, um, worn unevenly. 

Buffalo NY "Border Patrol" officers leave nearly blind Rohingya REFUGEE to die in the snow.

 RantWoman's laundry is going to have to wait.

First, HEARTFELT condolences to the family of Mr. Nurun Alam and to everyone in the Rohingya refugee community in Buffalo NY.

RantWoman is shaking her tree of blind people contacts to see whether any blind people in Buffalo NY are familiar with the story below of Mr. Nurun Alam, a Rohingya REFUGEE. If RantWoman were a properly politic advocate, she might also collaborate with others to craft a carefully worded statement about why blind people--LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN THE US--should care about immigrant neighbors, blind or low vision immigrants, and assaults on Constitutional and civil rights, not to mention all the ways ICE/ CBP are making life MORE unsafe for everyone in the US. RantWoman will be grateful if all these comments lead to such statements. 

In the meantime....

RantWoman's head is exploding about the heart-wrenching story of a nearly blind Rohingya REFUGEE left to die in Buffalo NY by Border Patrol agents. Aside from that outrageous level of cruelty, the whole story should make every jurisdiction in the country think twice or three or a dozen or seventeen times about handing ANYONE but the most dangerous criminals over on Border Patrol (ICE/ CBP) detainers. 

According to the TV news report linked below, Mr. Alam was originally arrested in 2025 after an encounter with 2 Buffalo Police Department officers. RantWoman has not found reports of the original altercation but one post on X referred to some kind of stick that may have been used as a walking stick. Mr. Alam was held in the Erie County jail until there was some kind of plea deal, someone recently posted bond and he was picked up by "Border Patrol" Border Patrol apparently figured out there was no reason to deport him. There was also no reason just to dump him out in the cold to die in the snow.

RantWoman does not endorse middle-aged blind people getting into hand-to-hand battles with police officers. That said, several elements of the story make RantWoman wonder whether, in a properly functioning Department of Justice, there would be grounds for a federal civil rights investigation.

Google turned up reference to a now-deleted missing persons report on Facebook that described mr. Alam as about 5'7" and slightly built. So two officers? COME ON. De-escalation ANYONE? Someone? Anyone?

Next, we have someone who speaks minimal English quite possibly has age-related hearing loss, and probably has no idea what police officers might be barking at him.

Next we have a REFUGEE who probably does not have great associations with anyone in uniform but who, if he has any vision at all, probably reacts very badly to police officers.

Next, the "walking stick." RantWoman would definitely like to know more about whether Mr. Alam used whatever he was carrying as some kind of a mobility aid, either for support or as a tool for navigating his environment.

RantWoman is not a lawyer and HOPES that someone with more authority will re-investigate the original case.

For now, focus on the outrageous behavior by CBP and a fragile LEGAL REFUGEE left to die alone in the snow.

Documentation / media selections below. 

Here are such media accounts and statements as RantWoman has been able easily to assemble, along with an observation that Grok, the Twitter /X AI validates accounts from several official sources.

TV Coverage of previous arrest

Border Patrol dump blind refugee 5 miles away from home—he was found dead on the street.

Officers dropped him off in front of a donut shop—didn't notify his lawyer or family he was even released.

When reported missing—local police said he was in ICE custody and stopped looking… pic.twitter.com/DKhS77qVqv

— LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 (@LongTimeHistory) February 26, 2026

Investigative report

Blind refugee abandoned by Border Patrol dies in Buffalo. : Investigative Post

Another Tweet

Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan provided the following statement to News 4:

"A vulnerable man — nearly blind and unable to speak English — was left alone on a cold winter night with no known attempt to leave him in a safe, secure location."

"That decision from U.S. Customs and Border… pic.twitter.com/ScSf4uj9Ik

— LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 (@LongTimeHistory) February 26, 2026

Minimal walking to #OpenThePaths

The short version of this rant: will RantWoman just ride her usual bus Metro 48 to the #OpenThePaths conference with a few blocks walk to the Zillow Center? OR will RantWoman ride her usual Metro 48 bus a couple stops further, cross a street and catch a Metro 372 bus that would go practically to the front door of the Zillow center and mean much less total walking?

Stay tuned. RantWoman may or may not get arround to either documenting her travels in #ACCESSMap or explaining her thinking to the kinds of people who design trip planners.  RantWoman has SO many other pathways to ranting before getting back to these details.

To heck with #SOTU2026 and multiple other news threads RantWoman would find it easy to have generalized ranting about. Let us stick to the annual #OpenThePaths conference at the TASKAR center at the University of WA.

First a rant about bleeping INTRUSIVE AI. RantWoman does NOT want AI to help her write email. RantWoman does not want AI to help her read her email or at least not as a default. And furthermore, ff RantWoman puts a search string into a search bar, the LAST thing RantWoman wants to see is some wordy AI verbiage. RantWoman wants a direct link to the even website. That did not occur. Hence the rant when RantWoman already needs to rant about other topics. Hence the hastag and RantWoman will look up other info she needs later.

A while ago, RantWoman promised readers some meditations about transportation and elder care and adult family homes. Steam will still rise from RantWoman's fingers if she tackles that today. Instead RantWoman needs to go off about her own new transportation constraints called minimal walking. After weeks of various leg weakness, muscle spasms, and other delights, RantWoman finally went to a doctor. 

RantWoman got same-day x-rays. First RantWoman had to stand in a couple positions that reminded her, she probably has not one but two legs that are going to hurt sometimes. The diagonosis: Congratulations RantWoman, you have arthritis and other age-related issues which YouTube will offer abundant input about if one supplies one's birth year.

Arthritis??? I am too young to have arthritis!

Earth to RantWoman: look at your family tree. Uhhhh....

RantWoman walked out of the initial appointment calculating a path that would minimize pain because she had not recently munched any painkillers. Walk to Light Rail? Ummm? Walk to a couple different bus route options? Ummm.

Then RantWoman remembered a nearby bus stop and the Metro 65 which would take her directly to a Metro 48 stop she could ride to a Metro 8 stop and from there all the way home on the 8. Phew. What a relief.

With that window into RantWoman's current transportation thinking, RantWoman will now leave readers in suspense and report back after Day 1 on Thursday.

AHEM. Blowing whistles is protected first amendment activity...and...

The whistle code:

three short blasts: ICE has been sighted.

(Oh, Good! Just what RantWoman wants in the pedestrian environment allegedly increasing public safety: violent, poorly trained, unidentified, unaccountable goons. SURE. Sure, as in MANY local police officers and reportedly, even some people within ICE will attest)

One long continuous blast: ABDUCTION

(phrasing on the instruction sheet)

Regardless of where one comes down on federal officials grabbing people off the street, pepper spraying citizens trying to record what they are doing, and spewing lies, Lies, LIES (Can anyone tell RantWoman is a little biased?) RantWoman needs to go off about one aspect of the literal whistleblowing campaign: a bunch of whistles going off all around one is likeluy to be DARNED confusing to blind pedestrians. RantWoman also notes that there may be other people with mobility issues or personal reasons to need to find paths to safety, paths AWAY from places crowds may be running toward.

RantWoman bases the observation about difficulty identifying the sources of whistles on what she has heard in a number of videos about ICE / Border Patrol actions in Minneapolis and other cities. RantWoman has NO desire to use her limited eyeball time on videos getting analyzed in minute detail. RantWoman does, though, want to encourage people responding to whistle alerts to look around and #ASKDontGrab if someone nearby might need help finding paths to safety. 

One more comment for #PWD who DO want to go to protests: there are any number of options for training and opportunities to game out different issues. RantWoman highly recommend both finding a compatible training / collaboration opportunity and just planning to go with a buddy.

 

Reference about the first amendment issue.

Blowing whistles is protected first amendment activity

Minneapolis Star Tribune cited here:

REVEALED: DHS Broke Pretti's Rib One Week Ago!!!

The Mom Report: transportation to a new destination.

Just when RantWoman was starting to groove on some new to her transit options in N Seattle (Yeah 365),  RantMom will move soon, hopefully to a lovely Adult family Home on Boyer Ave E.

Location. Location. Location.

Location is so important that the RantSisters opted to skip visits to other Lake City locations suggested by the consultant assisting the RantFamily. If the goal is "comfort and quality of life," the Rant Sisters spending more time with RantMom and less time on transit is exactly on point.

The closest frequent bus route, the Metro 48 happens to serve Little Sister on one end and RantWoman on the other end. First day preview from bus stop to location was in a car. Irrepressible Nephew is good at spotting curb ramps but not so good at noticing sidewalk issues from the car. 

Stops at Boyer on both sides of the street seem a little steep to RantWoman but Little Sister has a power chair. 

RantWoman walked the sidewalk between the location and the bus stop the other day. The sidewalk is not brand new so it's bumpy in places. Little Sister at first dismissed RantWoman's observations but after a visit today thanked RantWoman for the heads-up.

Next comes visitors from Lynnwood on Light Rail. RantWoman has not put the route into a trip planner but did realize that in terms of easy connection to the 48 the best option would be to get off the Light Rail at the U District station and walk over to 15th Ave NE to get the 48. RantWoman remembers some nuance about the 48 ending at the U District station at least some of the time so probably a visit to the trip planner with some different date time combinations would be fruitful.

RantWoman generally does not try to plan / replan trips on the fly but does like to have general contours of the schedule in mind from planning ahead.

Anyway, the other option of course is to ride all the way to the University of WA station. RantWoman realized that option is less preferable just because the walk between the station and the 48 stop in front of the UW Medical Center is a pain and worse a pain to explain to another low vision person. RantWoman also notes that she may sometimes opt just to Uber part of the trip especially because of a vexing issue RantWoman REALLY needs to schedule her own medical appointment about.

Do not look at the news. DO NOT look at the news. How about some nice Nondriver eldercare transportation issues.

 

The tree outside
RantWoman's window

Same tree  different day
outside RantWoman's window

It's fashionable for stress relief to tell people to "Touch Grass." It's Seattle. WHO IS ANYONE KIDDING? After atmospheric rivers have innundated parts of WA and less cold hardy souls have made it through a few spectacular days of cold and beautifully clear, Seattle is back to grey skies and heavy mist and need for 100 words to describe Seattle rain.

The tree counts, especially since RantWoman gets tobe deliriously grateful that in the small part of her vision which sort of works, RantWoman can tell the difference between the light and cloud patterns in the two pictures.

RantWoman means it about the title of this post. The list of current news items that could make RantWoman's head explode is too long already. RantWoman may or may not get around to penning her own reflections on 2025, couture, health, technology in general, Twitter or X, and numerous other topics. RantWoman WILL be posting about eldercare and transportation.

Instead RantWoman will be writing about two non-drivers, RantWoman accompanied by Ambassador Thwack and Little Sister in her wheelchair looking for eldercare that provides RantMom a lot more services than simple independent living. HOEPFULLY RantWoman will spare readers both the sordid details of a decrepitating body and at least most of the family emotional landmines. 

Instead expect

--commentary about what kinds of vehicles are easy or difficult for people with different mobility needs to get into or out of.

--consultation about transportation options for candidate locations from multiple trip planners.

--comments from Walk Score, Access Map, and Find a Ride

We will start with one generalized rant: in some respects, Sunday is a GREAT time to visit candidate locations. That is whan bus service is sparsest, so how does life work under that condition.

HOWEVER, probably on NO planet will it be reasonable to try for a tour of three locations via transit on one day unless Irrepressible Nephew can drive his mother around and RantWoman can sync up with one of the people who has issued blank ride offers. RantWoman is not crazy about this option BECAUSE the POINT of demanding to test the get there on transit angle is specifically to evaluate everyday life realities.

STAY TUNED.

Gratitudes--and Irritability

image from Free Press Journal

#HAPPY THANKSGIVING 

Happy posthumous 91st birthday to RantDad. And special appreciation to all transit, deivery, and taxi etc. drivers, with a particular asterisk for resonance about a couple anniversaries of horrible tragedies. The tragedies never go away, even when there is much else to occupy people's souls.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone involved in food production and food distribution! 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone however you do or don't celebrate.

 

The pink Christmas Cactus

RantWoman considers Thanksgiving at least as important as Christmas. Enough said.

This year, the prep got off to more of a rocky start than usual. Dial-a-Tirade available about software updates and AI that seems to fry RantWoman's phone and other forms of technological disdain for RantWoman's current realities. On top of that, RantWoman spent half an hour of her usual Wednesday morning hourlong webinar trying to figure out a new portal.

Another novelty: an invitation to dinner with nephew and woman friend in exotic LYNNWOOD, but not the part of Lynnwood in range of the Alderwood Zip service. (Earth to RantWoman: did you check Find-a-Ride to see whether the service area might have expanded? NOooo.)

Nephew is both chef and chauffeur, with an offer to fetch both his parents, RantMom, and RantWoman, all in one trip. RantWoman had to reality check this offer. RantWoman is recovering well, but is still feeling a little irritable after some surgery last week. The thought of being crammed in a car even with one's nearest and dearest just does not sound fun.  RantWoman really did not want to request two roundtrips to assemble the whole clan. Somehow a request just to fetch RantWoman from a nearby transit location is too much. RantWoman is quite happy with some exercise and public transit before a holiday feast. More on that in a moment.

RantWoman also learned that Little Sister just assumed RantWoman would be bringing cranberry something. It is a VERY good thing RantWoman discovered a big bag of cranberries stashed in the bottom of her freezer and has been able to assemble TWO kinds of sauce. Uncooked relish will have to wait for another holiday and fresh instead of frozen berries.

Off RantWoman went to Google Maps with the freshly supplied street address. The options with a couple nuances: either Link + the Swift Blue line plus a walk with suggestions to have realistics expectations about walkability or E line plus a Community transit line that runs once an hour on Sundays and holidays. Also, expect rain. 

The actual walking distance from a close bus stop to final destination does not look very long. It just involves interacting with Highway 99 and no indication of crosswalk options. So fabulous: just take Uber the last leg of the trip and expect that family harmony will last a little longer with the right transportation options.