Ask-Steve.com

It's good to be out in the neighborhood

A dear friend of mine once jokingly called me a flâneur. I wasn't familiar with the term at the time, but I liked the sound of it. The word, it turns out, comes from the French masculine noun flâneur—which has the basic meanings of "stroller", "lounger", "saunterer"—which itself comes from the French verb flâner, which means "to stroll". (Thank you, Wikipedia!) I like the derived meaning from Charles Baudelaire, though: that of "a person who walks the city in order to experience it," having a key role in understanding, participating in and portraying the city.

I decided to go car free this year, both to be green and to go lean. I live right on a major public transit line, so I can get around fairly easily, but it's still nothing like having a car. I think twice before going places and usually choose not to go, either because transit wouldn't get me there in time or because it's just too much of a hassle. When I have my dog (shared custody with my ex), I have to leave him behind as he can't ride the bus or MAX with me.

I've also experienced more personal hardship and tragedy in the past year than I'd wish on an enemy in a lifetime.

All of this resulted in me going from being a man about town—socializing, observing and chronicling—to a man about home. It hasn't been an entirely unhealthy change. But it hasn't been great either.

I've spent more time at the gym in my building and have also been eating at home more, which almost always means a healthier diet. But I've realized that the physical payoff hasn't been worth the mental and emotional toll of holing up and being much less social.

Yesterday afternoon I took my dog out for a long walk around the neighborhood. People who looked like they probably hadn't cracked even a gas pain smile since the late 90's broke into a full grin when they looked down and saw my irresistibly cute sidekick. I marveled anew at the gorgeous architecture and landscaping of the homes in the neighborhood. I drank in and savored the crisp air and rich colors of early autumn. I fell in love with the city all over again.

Our stroll took us over to lower Hawthorne Boulevard where the late afternoon air carried aromas that reminded me I hadn't eaten anything substantial all day. I'm not big on leaving George tied up outside for more than a few minutes, so I steered my little black ground kite to one of the finest pizza joints in town.

I was relieved to find they hadn't lost that charming Southeast customer service. The clerk ignored my greeting and sullenly took my filthy cash, making it clear that he was reluctant to sell me any pizza at all since I'd had the nerve to come in and pull him away from the critically important conversation he was having with the cook about where he'd picked up the faded, too-tight t-shirt he was wearing for the third day in a row. Apologetically, I slipped a single into the tip jar. It was the least I could do.

I took my slice outside and sat at a table on the sidewalk, sharing little bits of cheese with George as I ate. He stared at me adoringly the entire time, making it clear that I remain his trusted default food dispenser. (And his on call set of portable opposable thumbs.) 

From the pizza joint, we sauntered across the intersection to a little bistro where I ordered a glass of the house red. The wine, it turns out, was Big House Red and the bartender saw fit to give me a pour to match the name. I took it outside and sipped it as the air cooled and the sun made it's way closer to the horizon. George was visibly annoyed that I hadn't bought something involving cheese or meat. His eyes seemed to say, "Dude, not even a crunchy vegetable?"

Despite my workaholic schedule of late, I've still had all the time in the world to pursue my various hobbies and passions. But I've somehow done very little of that. In fact, time on the weekends seems to simply melt away, crawling up the lazy hillside in the morning, and then cascading, rolling, tumbling down the other side toward midnight. I occasionally beat myself up for not being more motivated when I have free alone time, but I'll offer a solo display of my digitus tertius to anyone who tries to call me to account for it. Putting the rock and roll lifestyle on pause and pulling the busymobile off the autobahn for almost a year now has been a good thing. It's made me appreciate the fact that I'm a social creature.

And a flâneur.

Sounds of a bone-rattling ride on a TriMet bus

After one too many times riding the #75 and feeling deaf and broken afterward, I decided to record what it sounds like on the bus with my iPhone. This is the raw audio. No amplification, modification or anything else. It's only 90 seconds long.

I bring you -- the music of TriMet. (And yes, it is just as deafening and teeth-rattlingly horrible as it sounds.)

AUDIO: TriMet Bus #75

Spend $25, save a bundle - and the environment

I bought a Brita filtered water pitcher the other day and it came with the refillable water bottle pictured here. I was ready for it to be a worthless throw-in item meant to just sell more product. Turns out it's a very cool, heavy-duty water bottle - the best I've ever used.

I went to the URL on the bottle and learned it's part of an environmental pledge program called Filter For Good:

Brita and Nalgene have partnered to present FilterForGood.

...if you purchase a FilterForGood refillable bottle, you'll also be supporting the Blue Planet Run Foundation, a nonprofit organization working to provide safe drinking water to 200 million people for the rest of their lives by 2027. For every FilterForGood refillable bottle purchased between August 10th, 2007 and February 29th, 2008 a donation of $4 will be made to the Blue Planet Run Foundation.

The FilterForGood campaign is proud to be a partner campaign with RefillNotLandfill, which Nalgene launched earlier this year.

If you don't drink as much water as you should, having a Brita filter and bottle will probably cause you to drink more. If you drink plenty of water now, but are buying disposable bottles, please switch to a filter and refillable bottle. These sites are packed with great facts and information; I'll share a few tidbits here:

• 8 out of 10 plastic water bottles used in the United States become garbage or end up in a landfill.
• In the United States in 2006, bottled water consumption reached a record 8.3 billion gallons, 185 million gallons of which was imported.The total amount spent on bottled water was over $11 billion.
• The energy we waste using bottled water would be enough to power 190,000 homes. But refilling your water bottle from the tap requires no expenditure of energy, and zero waste of resources.
• Making all of the bottles for the US requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually. That's enough to fuel 100,000 cars.
• Bottled water companies do not have to release their water-testing results to the public, whereas municipalities do.
• It costs more money to drink bottled water than to put gas in your car--up to five time more--due mainly to its packaging and transportation.
• In contrast to tap water, which is distributed through an energy-efficient infrastructure, transporting bottled water long distances involves burning massive quantities of fossil fuels. Nearly a quarter of all bottled water crosses national borders to reach consumers, transported by boat, train, and truck.

Link: www.filterforgood.com

Voice recognition software is ready for prime time

This is absolutely amazing! Regular readers will know that I do not say that very often. The fact is, I patiently reserve it for things just like this.

I'm writing this blog entry without touching my computer. I'm sitting back in my chair listening to music and speaking into a microphone. And so far, the computer hasn't made a single mistake. Dragon Naturally Speaking dictation software was amazing when I used it briefly a few years ago and, as one might expect, it has improved dramatically since then. I've trained it for only 20 or 30 minutes after installing it this morning and it is already at least 95% accurate. The accuracy will continue to improve every time I use it. It will continue learning my vocabulary, accent and speech habits.

Perhaps the most important addition to my setup, however, is the microphone I'm using. I've written about it before. TheBoom microphone has revolutionized my mobility during my work day. I call it my magic microphone. Using it, I can sit in a coffee shop full of people talking, music blaring, and conduct important conference calls without anyone on the other end of the line having any idea that I'm not sitting in my office. The microphone picks up everything I say, even if I'm whispering, but doesn't pick up any of the background noise.

With the Dragon voice recognition software and my magic microphone, I can sit in my office with music blaring or a noisy coffee shop and dictate documents, e-mail, IM -- whatever.

If you do a lot of typing every day, Dragon could save you both time and pain. I started feeling pain in my hands and lower arms a couple years ago and knew that I had to do something. I have improved my posture, increased the frequency of my breaks from the computer, and added a Wacom tablet to the mix. But none of these have made nearly the difference that voice recognition software has already. At this very moment I am leaning back in my chair with my hands behind my head stretching as I dictate. I can literally do healing hand exercises as I write!

There are new technologies coming out every day and, while many of them are very neat, few of them truly amaze me anymore. It's refreshing and exciting to discover new technologies and new applications of existing technologies that have such a massive, positive impact on my every day life.

Get involved: A comprehensive smoking ban is long overdue in Oregon

I had planned to post about this after seeing the post on BlueOregon yesterday. A post by Jeff over at Beervana today inspired me to go ahead and post, even though the topic is being covered well on BlueOregon and elsewhere.

I'm generally ambivalent about smoking bans. I have a pretty strong libertarian streak, and I don't believe in legislating behavior codes. In America, you don't have a right not to be offended.

Jeff goes on to cite another post by Kari Chisholm on BlueOregon today that gives yet another reason why we must rally to make sure this smoking ban makes it across the finish line:

But for high-school dropouts, especially middle-aged women with minimal skills, there are very few jobs out there that pay a living wage. One of the few is serving food and drinks, a job that combines the minimum wage with tips.

Many under-educated older women have very few occupational options -- and working in smoky bars pays comparatively well. Right now, we're asking them to trade their health for a living wage.

Jeff makes a great observation beyond that:

I'd add that working the late shift is good for moms who don't want to be away from their kids too long. So, on balance, I guess I'll back the legislation. Mostly I go to non-smoking bars, anyway.

Jeff and Kari are being far more logical and level-headed on this than I'm inclined to be -- and I respect their restraint. For me it has nothing to do with not having the right to not be offended. It has everything to do with what I see and smell every single day. I see one or two smokers standing at a bus stop puffing away in the middle of a crowd of ten people who aren't smoking. And then throwing their smoking butts on the ground before they board the bus. I sit behind cars in traffic where the drivers are blowing smoke out their window -- and into mine. Before they throw their butts out onto the street. I go to see bands I don't want to miss and then wake up the next morning feeling like I have a head cold -- as I take my rancid-smelling clothes to the laundry. And the list goes on. And on.

I know there are plenty of perfectly courteous smokers out there, but like so many things in society, it's the few jerks who ruin it for everyone else. And when the jerks become enough of a hazard to society, the courteous, law-abiding masses get pissed and a law is passed. Such is the situation in Oregon around smokers.

It shows how tolerant and forgiving Oregonians are that we've put this legislation off for so long -- far too long in my opinion. It's time to get the job done and get our service workers and everyone else affected by smoking out of harm's way.

I can't say it better than Kari said it in his post yesterday so I'll wrap up with that:

Time to call your State Representatives. You know they will be hearing from loads of tavern owners, and the cigarette industry will definitely pull out all the stops lobbying against this bill. Our Legislators shouldn't give another inch to restaurant and bar owners. They already get one of the sweetest and most ridiculous state subsidies ever devised (about 25% of the gambling profits from every machine), and frankly, the case that a smoking ban will actually lower their profits is flimsy.

Ban Smoking in Oregon Bars? | Beervana

Technorati Tags: Oregon, politics, Portland, smoking, smoking ban, tobacco

Republican State Senator Ted Ferrioli is Pro Choice

"People have the right to make choices, even if you think those choices are bad," said State Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day. "Oregonians don't need their senators to make their choices for them."

Well, that is unless you want to choose not to have a 50% higher likelihood of getting lung cancer because you work in a tobacco smoke-filled workplace.

Ferrioli was talking specifically about Senate Bill 571 (SB571) which passed the Oregon State Senate today.

Lighting up a cigarette in Oregon bars and taverns would be prohibited under a bill that passed the Oregon Senate Tuesday on an 18-12 vote. 

It is expected to undergo changes in the Oregon House, where exemptions for cigar bars, tobacco shops and the Portland Meadows racetrack could be stripped away. 

Most Senate Democrats united behind the proposal, saying it would protect the 35,000 Oregonians who work in bars and taverns from the well-documented dangers of secondhand smoke, including an increased risk of asthma and lung cancer. 

"The right to a healthy life is endangered by the presence of secondhand smoke in many indoor places," said Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, who sponsored the bill. "Bar and restaurant workers are 50 percent more likely to get lung cancer than those who work in nonsmoking areas." 

Most Republicans, meanwhile, voted against the plan, saying it would take away the freedom of adults to make their own choices, in venues that are off-limits to children. 

Of course, I'm sure Republican State Senator Ted Ferrioli's take on this isn't at all affected by the fact that he received three cash donations from three different tobacco companies in 2000 (the latest information I can find):

RJ REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO: $2,500.00

BROWN & WILLIAMSON TOBACCO CORP: $400.00

PHILIP MORRIS: $1,500.00

Nah—I'm sure that couldn't have anything to do with it.

Oregon smoking ban passes Senate, could change in House | OPB News 

 

Portland being left in the... smoke

Another city has accomplished what Portland can't seem to do: ban smoking. This week it's Baltimore.

As both advocates and opponents looked on in a packed gallery, the Baltimore City Council voted to ban smoking in public places Monday by a vote of 9-2, with four council members abstaining.

Council Vice President Robert Curran, the bill’s sponsor, called the vote historic. "You can all take credit for saving thousands of lives."

According to a recent story in the Eugene Register-Guard, "Sixteen states have extended smoking bans to bars and taverns, including Oregon's neighbors, California and Washington."

What are we waiting for, people?

A study released last November determined that "Oregon ranks in the top 10 of states having highway laws that promote safety and injury prevention."

The scorecard rankings were based on Chicago-based Emergency Nurses Association criteria derived from five policy areas that come under the jurisdiction of the states, four of which focused on the presence of highway safety laws including primary seat belt laws, child passenger safety laws, graduated driver's licensing and universal motorcycle helmet laws...

We clearly care about the safety of our residents and visitors. The ironic thing is that many of these laws, such as the seat belt and helmet laws, are meant to protect the individual. Smoking laws, on the other hand, protect not only the individual (unless they want to take their pursuit of cancer outside), but tens or hundreds of others in the vicinity who are spared the harmful effects—not to mention the cloying stench—of one person's complete disregard for and reckless endangerment of the health of everyone around them.

Let's stop making excuses and allowing ourselves to be suckered by the tobacco industry, their lawyers and those addicted to their products. We're smarter than that. Let's ban smoking now.

Baltimore snuffs out smoking | Examiner.com

Bill would expand ban on smoking | The Register-Guard

Oregon ranks high for highway safety laws | Portland Business Journal

Technorati Tags: Oregon, politics, Portland, smoking ban, Baltimore, tobacco

Cavity Creeps and the frightening power of advertising

I was just hanging out with a friend and somehow the topic of cavities came up. I said, "The Cavity Creeps are coming!" Then, switching to a deeper, sinister-sounding voice, "We make holes in teeth!" My friend gave me a strange look—as any sane person would. "Huh?"

Google to the rescue! A few seconds later we were watching the below commercial, hosted on iFilm. The commercial came out in 1976!

advertising, Crest, toothpaste, Television

Boycott hotels that allow smoking--starting with Doubletree

I'm staying at the Doublestink... I mean Doubletree Hotel San Diego/Del Mar. It stinks.

The service is excellent, the price is reasonable, the rooms are well put together and comfortable. The problem is this: I asked for a non-smoking room. I got a room that no one is allowed to smoke in, but that reeks of cigarette smoke. The hallway was smoky and disgusting last night, but the room was fine so I went with it. When I got back to my room tonight it smelled like an R.J. Reynolds convention guest room. And of course all my clothes had been steeping in the rancid smell all day.

It turns out that the opposite end of my floor is a smoking section. What's up with that? Is this 2007—or 1957? It's disgusting.

They moved me two floors up and to the opposite side of the building. I'm smoke free at the Doubletree. But I won't stay at another Doubletree Hotel until they go completely non-smoking.

Fast food is expensive - and costly. Why do it?

I was in a hurry yesterday and succumbed to the lure of the bright, happy Burgerville sign. It didn't bother to seek the blessing of my brain, but impolitely moved right in to woo my hedonistic taste buds and empty gullet. How brash. How brazen. How could I resist?

I ordered one of the fancy-schmancy burgers that taste great, are more filling--and make me want to do little more than sit around listening to my arteries harden afterward. Of course, seeing as how they're in season, I had to get some sweet potato fries, too. Hey, they're healthier than regular fries!

I got up to the window to pay and had to ask the cashier to repeat herself. How much?! $7.49 for a burger and fries?! For a split second I was almost tempted to stand my greasy date up and dash. Why do people do this to themselves? I can certainly understand the desire for the occasional naughty treat, but I know people who eat like this on a regular basis because they think it's cheaper or faster than eating healthier or more gourmet food. Well, I'm happy to report that eating healthy, gourmet food is just as fast and often less expensive than fast food.

The first option that comes to mind is the deli at New Seasons. Calling it a deli does it a great injustice because the food there is on par with many of the better restaurants in town. You can get a cup of fresh soup for $2.49 or a bowl for $3.49. If you're really hungry -- or have a friend to split it with -- you can get an entire quart of soup for $6.99. You can get a heaping plate of all kinds of different entrées and sides for roughly that same $6.99; less depending on what you choose. Now you can even order your meal online at their website and have it ready when you want to pick it up!

I prefer to support New Seasons because they're based here in Portland, but Austin, TX-based Whole Foods has an incredible deli, as well, with similar prices. Their selection of food is astonishing and I've never had a bad meal there. I know some of you reading this may think, "Who can afford to eat at Whole Paycheck all the time?" The fact is, it's not much more expensive -- if any -- than eating at fast food joints and it's just as fast. And it's cheaper than most restaurants.

Try it, You'll like it.

All that said, Burgerville is definitely the way to go if you're hankering for a burger or other fast food. They're local, source locally and aim for sustainable, organic products. I'll definitely continue to indulge occasionally at Burgerville!

[Ed. 2006.01.27: Check out the great post by Amy Jenniges over at Blog Town, PDX and the discussion there: Steve Asks: Why Go To Burgerville? ]