I ran 15 minutes the other day. I shuffled over to the track and ran lane 8. Some old guy hobbling along passed me in lane 1. Oooof!!!! Talk about a slap to the ego. I sped up a little and at the 9 minute mark I thought I might have to walk. I slowed back down and ran until 15minutes and called it a day. My knees both hurt and my left foot was hurting. A little pain in my lower back from hurting it moving the bathtub last weekend. Today I just feel sore in my hamstrings and a spot on my left hip.
I decided instead of my marathon goal being 2:28 that I'd make it 2:44 and I registered for the Marine Corps Marathon. I guess I just know I don't have the drive as of now to commit to such a lofty goal. I still think it's in my realm of possibility but things would have to line up pretty perfect to run that fast. 2:44 seems pretty doable. First things first is to fix these knees because 3 months completely off did absolutely nothing to help them.
I'm feeling a little down today because of some of the comments I got from posting that goal on facebook. I guess I didn't expect that. It angers me that folks would even question me running a 2:44. Used to be that would be a long run. It wasn't that dag gone long ago. It's not like my little mitochondria all retired. Anyways, sort of just angered me. Then I got some comments about my last post that seemed a bit rude. That's a sensitive subject I put out there in front of the world. If you're to obtuse to realize that a little tact when addressing it is necessary...... grrrr....maybe I just need a friends list redo. Then today I had a misunderstanding with my "girlfriend". I joked to her because she told Zoya that when she first saw my picture she wasn't attracted to me because she likes guys with big muscles. Her reaction to my joke sort of startled me. She said....yeah...well that's ok, i don't mind dating people I'm not attracted to. Or something along those lines. Wow...way to make a guy feel good. Maybe I'm just too sensitive. I tried not to respond and just change the subject and then she said she might as well be talking to herself sometimes. So I guess the chat sort of went off the rails from there. C'est la vie.
well. I'll go run it off.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
3 Inspiring words
My trip home this weekend allowed for a unique opportunity. Never did I imagine
how that opportunity would play out, or what it would lead to, or even that I
would have it. But it seems to have inspired a city. Hate, as I've often said
here, is a powerful and motivating emotion. The hatred of the masses, against
wealth and power and the corruption associated with it, is particularly powerful
just now in an economy where the availability of wealth has evaporated to all
but a select class. A chance meeting therefore, where I was able to pull
together and assimilate a vast sum of clues, in front of a crowd, and use this
information to insult a City Manager, a 4x Gold medalist, the head of USA Track
& Field, and their wives.....as well as inspire community action....all with
3 little words, is quite an accomplishment. Something that I feel a bit proud
of.
For the purpose of this post I'll need to do two things, give a little background, and deliver to you my personal definition of corruption (since the world currently, seems to confuse what is legal, with what is right) Corruption to me, is the use of a position of power to serve a narrower interest than the scope of that position. So instead of serving everyone you have power over, you harm most of them to serve yourself and people close to you. Now most often that is done legally. Most of the US is suffering from an entire list of horrible things that have been done by businesses, politicians, and people that were completely legal. The mortgage crisis is a major example of this. So I want to steer us back to accepting only those things that are right, and just, and not confuse ourselves with what the privileged class have dictated to others....is legal.
The background here is that Geneva's former city manager is also a huge developer. How that should ever be allowed is beyond me. Throughout the last 10yrs he has been steadily gutting the city services of our town and moving them out to the highway (where he owned land). Each step along the way (moving of the post office, consolidation of the school, moving of the library, etc) I researched and wrote Op Ed pieces to the local paper outlining why I think this pattern of development is disastrous and showing urban design studies from Maine, New Hampshire, Portland, St. Paul, etc that all showed the importance of keeping vital city services centrally located and accessible via foot traffic. In each case I was dismissed, with venom, as a fuddy duddy standing in the way of "progress". Now, in the last 3 years as that pattern of development has been largely seen by the locals as a horrible failure, and huge mistake....my message, and my ideas, have become a bit accepted, and in some cases embraced.
That same former city manager, after moving all of the services to the highway, along with other developers, built the nations largest indoor track, multiple Olympic sized swimming pools, and all sorts of indoor athletic facilities. Throughout the construction he enraged to locals by bringing in cheap, non-local, non-union labor whenever possible. In those cases where he used local contractors and local companies....he declared bankruptcy and has never paid them.
Now that leads me to USA Track & Field. Throughout my early years of running, Boulder Colorado was the home of US distance running. During the early 90's however that slowly began to change. Runners like Bob Kennedy and Todd Williams for some reason decided that training at or near their alma maters was a better fit for them. The often lamented "lost 90's of American Distance Running" where people chose, instead of living in Boulder, to train on their own lead to a major downturn in US distance running. A policy adopted by USA T&F where they decided that their group should emulate the financial and marketing success of the NBA (in my opinion) was to blame. The purpose of USATF changed from promoting the sport and supporting its athletes, to making a corporate brand from which they could extract wealth.
Despite the best attempts of the bigwigs at USATF, the people of Boulder, and their love of running, running venues, climate, etc have all combined to still keep the area one of THE places to live for professional endurance athletes. That, coupled with groups like Hanson's, the Oregon Project, etc lead to a resurgence in US distance running.....no thanks to USATF.
So there I was on a miserable Sunday morning having breakfast at a local restaurant when in hobbles our trio of wealth gathering (track enthusiasts). Fresh from having won (*cough* stolen) the USATF contract from Boulder, making Geneva, Ohio the new headquarters of USATF. Not mind you, due to our wonderful running culture, or our access to mountain trails, or other running venues, our beautiful training weather, or any other logical reason to choose Geneva as a place distance athletes would love to live and train. But instead because our wonderful struggling developer turned city manager, turned millionaire developer was able to purchase them (ok, you can call it outbid them). So you have a millionaire ex-city manager who was willing to sell out the people he was supposed to have "spent his lifetime promoting and representing" dealing with a USATF president willing to be influenced more by personal greed than care for the athletes he represents....all of it legally...and none of it right.
As I was sitting there with my back to the group, the waitress hustled over to retrieve me. Excited for an opportunity to meet 4x Olympic gold medalist and 8x World Champion Michael Johnson I hurried over to their table. It was there that I sat listening to their dreams and plans, while a crowd slowly gathered, pushing in...filling the spaces between tables and any empty space available. The city manager introduced me to Michael who said he'd been hoping to run into me (wow I thought) because every time he mentions distance running in this town my name comes up from the locals (wow I thought again).
They then proceed to ask for my advice. You see...they are bankrupt. The population of distance runners have been hesitant to come to Geneva, save for their 2 competitions. The bankruptcy judgements against them are coming due, the amount of use in the form of memberships from the local community hasn't been what they expected...yada, yada, yada. How do we get the community to embrace distance running? How do we make this a destination for distance runners?
I slowly began to describe my long list of moves that have contributed to a community not interested in memberships, I told them (my own bitter feelings) for their removal of the town mural that had Anna Debevec (famous shot puter from the 70's), Brian Anderson (famous MLB pitcher) and myself (skinny guy who looks great in shorty shorts) and how the removal "to save money" gave children no recognizable local sports heroes. How not moving the trophy case (that holds hundreds of my and others high school trophies) to the new school gave children nothing to marvel at and aspire to. Then I dove into the desirability of the flat, cloudy, rainy, snow filled winters with zero trails for training and narrow snow choked roads for running.
After outlining a good bit of these, I slowly began to feel the tension in the room. Hearing all of these things, had reminded the locals of their hatred of the entire project. The last straw, as I later found out, was the promise (after a planned neglect of the downtown stadium and forced closing by our wonderful city manager during his tenure) that if the community matched funds they would be granted use of the facility for high school games, discount memberships for the community, etc. Which turned out to a 1 year free use by the school to it's athletic fields and then leases at insanely high rates and 1 free month trial for individuals followed by zero discount memberships. The crowding of the locals, the sour looks on their faces, and the hope resting on my shoulders to all involved that somehow I would have an idea that would bring the running world to Geneva and save the project.....seemed a bit awkward....and throughout my history I've proven I have rather a knack for handling awkward.
The best advice I can give you three? Yes (the crowd leans in) .....GO FUCK YOURSELF!!!
3 little words, inspired by my recent viewing of the movie Argo, catapulted the restaurant into a frenzy of cheering, then a firestorm on facebook, and finally to the founding of a group, to resurrect and refurbish the old stadium (Memorial Field). Once the facebook page went up, it seemed everyone in the community jumped in to be involved. In 2 days time we've established a charter, started application for a non-profit, and received a pledge from Brian Anderson for $300,000 to help resurrect the field, rebuild part of the grandstands that youths burned, refurbish the old cinder track, and build a new baseball field, effectively turning our backs on a failing multi-million dollar project that didn't have our support in the first place. We don't have the resources to throw good money and energy after bad. Or throw any money, for that matter, towards people who don't truly care about our community or the communites they are charged with supporting.
In less than 48hrs my 3 words seemed to have done more good for my little town than an entire team of people who's "projects" were more directed at putting money in their pockets than in helping the communities they serve. The same thing, you see, is damaging the entire population as you read. My message to you, is to tell them those 3 words. Scream them loud. Emulate my little town. Turn back the clock to a time when Americans didn't look to government to solve their problems for them. To a time when community groups, and people, working side by side caring for their communities decided what THEIR community needed, rolled up their sleeves and built it themselves. Rebuild local government and rely on that, and your neighbors. Everyone else has a different motive. So when they come to you with grand plans.....Give them the best......GO FUCK YOURSELF you can muster ;-)
For the purpose of this post I'll need to do two things, give a little background, and deliver to you my personal definition of corruption (since the world currently, seems to confuse what is legal, with what is right) Corruption to me, is the use of a position of power to serve a narrower interest than the scope of that position. So instead of serving everyone you have power over, you harm most of them to serve yourself and people close to you. Now most often that is done legally. Most of the US is suffering from an entire list of horrible things that have been done by businesses, politicians, and people that were completely legal. The mortgage crisis is a major example of this. So I want to steer us back to accepting only those things that are right, and just, and not confuse ourselves with what the privileged class have dictated to others....is legal.
The background here is that Geneva's former city manager is also a huge developer. How that should ever be allowed is beyond me. Throughout the last 10yrs he has been steadily gutting the city services of our town and moving them out to the highway (where he owned land). Each step along the way (moving of the post office, consolidation of the school, moving of the library, etc) I researched and wrote Op Ed pieces to the local paper outlining why I think this pattern of development is disastrous and showing urban design studies from Maine, New Hampshire, Portland, St. Paul, etc that all showed the importance of keeping vital city services centrally located and accessible via foot traffic. In each case I was dismissed, with venom, as a fuddy duddy standing in the way of "progress". Now, in the last 3 years as that pattern of development has been largely seen by the locals as a horrible failure, and huge mistake....my message, and my ideas, have become a bit accepted, and in some cases embraced.
That same former city manager, after moving all of the services to the highway, along with other developers, built the nations largest indoor track, multiple Olympic sized swimming pools, and all sorts of indoor athletic facilities. Throughout the construction he enraged to locals by bringing in cheap, non-local, non-union labor whenever possible. In those cases where he used local contractors and local companies....he declared bankruptcy and has never paid them.
Now that leads me to USA Track & Field. Throughout my early years of running, Boulder Colorado was the home of US distance running. During the early 90's however that slowly began to change. Runners like Bob Kennedy and Todd Williams for some reason decided that training at or near their alma maters was a better fit for them. The often lamented "lost 90's of American Distance Running" where people chose, instead of living in Boulder, to train on their own lead to a major downturn in US distance running. A policy adopted by USA T&F where they decided that their group should emulate the financial and marketing success of the NBA (in my opinion) was to blame. The purpose of USATF changed from promoting the sport and supporting its athletes, to making a corporate brand from which they could extract wealth.
Despite the best attempts of the bigwigs at USATF, the people of Boulder, and their love of running, running venues, climate, etc have all combined to still keep the area one of THE places to live for professional endurance athletes. That, coupled with groups like Hanson's, the Oregon Project, etc lead to a resurgence in US distance running.....no thanks to USATF.
So there I was on a miserable Sunday morning having breakfast at a local restaurant when in hobbles our trio of wealth gathering (track enthusiasts). Fresh from having won (*cough* stolen) the USATF contract from Boulder, making Geneva, Ohio the new headquarters of USATF. Not mind you, due to our wonderful running culture, or our access to mountain trails, or other running venues, our beautiful training weather, or any other logical reason to choose Geneva as a place distance athletes would love to live and train. But instead because our wonderful struggling developer turned city manager, turned millionaire developer was able to purchase them (ok, you can call it outbid them). So you have a millionaire ex-city manager who was willing to sell out the people he was supposed to have "spent his lifetime promoting and representing" dealing with a USATF president willing to be influenced more by personal greed than care for the athletes he represents....all of it legally...and none of it right.
As I was sitting there with my back to the group, the waitress hustled over to retrieve me. Excited for an opportunity to meet 4x Olympic gold medalist and 8x World Champion Michael Johnson I hurried over to their table. It was there that I sat listening to their dreams and plans, while a crowd slowly gathered, pushing in...filling the spaces between tables and any empty space available. The city manager introduced me to Michael who said he'd been hoping to run into me (wow I thought) because every time he mentions distance running in this town my name comes up from the locals (wow I thought again).
They then proceed to ask for my advice. You see...they are bankrupt. The population of distance runners have been hesitant to come to Geneva, save for their 2 competitions. The bankruptcy judgements against them are coming due, the amount of use in the form of memberships from the local community hasn't been what they expected...yada, yada, yada. How do we get the community to embrace distance running? How do we make this a destination for distance runners?
I slowly began to describe my long list of moves that have contributed to a community not interested in memberships, I told them (my own bitter feelings) for their removal of the town mural that had Anna Debevec (famous shot puter from the 70's), Brian Anderson (famous MLB pitcher) and myself (skinny guy who looks great in shorty shorts) and how the removal "to save money" gave children no recognizable local sports heroes. How not moving the trophy case (that holds hundreds of my and others high school trophies) to the new school gave children nothing to marvel at and aspire to. Then I dove into the desirability of the flat, cloudy, rainy, snow filled winters with zero trails for training and narrow snow choked roads for running.
After outlining a good bit of these, I slowly began to feel the tension in the room. Hearing all of these things, had reminded the locals of their hatred of the entire project. The last straw, as I later found out, was the promise (after a planned neglect of the downtown stadium and forced closing by our wonderful city manager during his tenure) that if the community matched funds they would be granted use of the facility for high school games, discount memberships for the community, etc. Which turned out to a 1 year free use by the school to it's athletic fields and then leases at insanely high rates and 1 free month trial for individuals followed by zero discount memberships. The crowding of the locals, the sour looks on their faces, and the hope resting on my shoulders to all involved that somehow I would have an idea that would bring the running world to Geneva and save the project.....seemed a bit awkward....and throughout my history I've proven I have rather a knack for handling awkward.
The best advice I can give you three? Yes (the crowd leans in) .....GO FUCK YOURSELF!!!
3 little words, inspired by my recent viewing of the movie Argo, catapulted the restaurant into a frenzy of cheering, then a firestorm on facebook, and finally to the founding of a group, to resurrect and refurbish the old stadium (Memorial Field). Once the facebook page went up, it seemed everyone in the community jumped in to be involved. In 2 days time we've established a charter, started application for a non-profit, and received a pledge from Brian Anderson for $300,000 to help resurrect the field, rebuild part of the grandstands that youths burned, refurbish the old cinder track, and build a new baseball field, effectively turning our backs on a failing multi-million dollar project that didn't have our support in the first place. We don't have the resources to throw good money and energy after bad. Or throw any money, for that matter, towards people who don't truly care about our community or the communites they are charged with supporting.
In less than 48hrs my 3 words seemed to have done more good for my little town than an entire team of people who's "projects" were more directed at putting money in their pockets than in helping the communities they serve. The same thing, you see, is damaging the entire population as you read. My message to you, is to tell them those 3 words. Scream them loud. Emulate my little town. Turn back the clock to a time when Americans didn't look to government to solve their problems for them. To a time when community groups, and people, working side by side caring for their communities decided what THEIR community needed, rolled up their sleeves and built it themselves. Rebuild local government and rely on that, and your neighbors. Everyone else has a different motive. So when they come to you with grand plans.....Give them the best......GO FUCK YOURSELF you can muster ;-)
Thursday, February 28, 2013
bubbles
I'm finally getting a chance to write a post. Surely the same boring babble none of you really come here to read. But in my world I'm king, so my subjects bow to my will. You will read it, and you will like it.
In my last post I talked about the preparations I'm making towards a transition from living in the worlds wealthiest empire, to the stagnant, and soon declining nation we have turned out to be. The state of the US right now is not all that dissimilar to my situation as a runner over the last 3 years. The engine is still there, and the tools that made it perform, but a few of the key ingredients to it's success, neglect of it's infrastructure, and the problems of maintaining such a complex energy intense arrangement have all began to show themselves. I'm now a has been.
I wanted to move on with that a little today. I'm not much for publicly predicting dates for our decline. History, ecology, physics, geology....pretty much every field point to inevitable decline. The timescale is the only thing that can be argued. As poorly as this will be received, and as crazy as everyone will think I am for saying this....I think the sky is hanging by a thread...and in the next 3 years will begin falling.
When I say this most people will start thinking of the sequester, and the fiscal cliff. That's merely a symptom of what I've been pointing to all along. Our economy hasn't grown a bit since 2008. Unfortunately everything we were building and everything our government was paying for (our entitlements) in 2008 weren't actually being paid for. In a time of record growth and economic abundance we were still financing to the gills. As pops (Tom) predicted years ago, we've been in a situation similar to Japan. While our economy hasn't grown, our debts continued. Our only way, in declining growth, to pay for our debts was to print money. To create growth where there was none. The result of that is what we're seeing now.
But that's not what I think will make the sky fall. No, that's just a predictable symptom of the current arrangement. What I'm guessing will be the next kick in the teeth, and will happen any day now, is the fracking bubble bursting. You see, the same pattern of poor regulation, greed, and exploitation of the endless growth fantasy that rocked us in the housing bubble has only been repeated in the fracking bubble. Wall Street has been cheerleading and announcing that the Marcellus and Bakken shale would soon lead to American independence from foreign oil. What a nice sales pitch, sound similar to the belief that house prices would continue to rise forever?
Meanwhile they've been bundling leases on undrilled shale fields. Any place in the US where similar shale deposits were found (whether they had oil, or gas...or nothing of value at all) were bundled and flipped on the basis of grotesquely inflated claims of their income potential; newly minted investment vehicles of more than Byzantine complexity—VPPs, "volumetric production payments," are an example you’ll be hearing about quite a bit in a few months, once the court cases begin. Yes....right when our economy is stumbling. When zero growth has been hidden because of printing presses running at the speed of light. When those printing presses have to stop because of global monetary situations and our debt positions. And when the financial sequester is set to take effect. We will we get hit with another bursting bubble.
Wall Street will position themselves to make record profits from the collapse while Joe investor who's been hearing all the cheerleading and trying desperately to put his money somewhere, anywhere that growth is still happening will lose his lot. Not only will that much more of the masses money get funneled to the elite....We'll need to deal with the resulting rising energy prices when people realize that gas and oil....in fact...our finite resources and that we're actually going to need to start scraping the bottom of the barrel. It's too bad, right when our economy is sitting still. Yes...you hear that? That's the sky, for most of us, preparing to fall. Good luck!!
In my last post I talked about the preparations I'm making towards a transition from living in the worlds wealthiest empire, to the stagnant, and soon declining nation we have turned out to be. The state of the US right now is not all that dissimilar to my situation as a runner over the last 3 years. The engine is still there, and the tools that made it perform, but a few of the key ingredients to it's success, neglect of it's infrastructure, and the problems of maintaining such a complex energy intense arrangement have all began to show themselves. I'm now a has been.
I wanted to move on with that a little today. I'm not much for publicly predicting dates for our decline. History, ecology, physics, geology....pretty much every field point to inevitable decline. The timescale is the only thing that can be argued. As poorly as this will be received, and as crazy as everyone will think I am for saying this....I think the sky is hanging by a thread...and in the next 3 years will begin falling.
When I say this most people will start thinking of the sequester, and the fiscal cliff. That's merely a symptom of what I've been pointing to all along. Our economy hasn't grown a bit since 2008. Unfortunately everything we were building and everything our government was paying for (our entitlements) in 2008 weren't actually being paid for. In a time of record growth and economic abundance we were still financing to the gills. As pops (Tom) predicted years ago, we've been in a situation similar to Japan. While our economy hasn't grown, our debts continued. Our only way, in declining growth, to pay for our debts was to print money. To create growth where there was none. The result of that is what we're seeing now.
But that's not what I think will make the sky fall. No, that's just a predictable symptom of the current arrangement. What I'm guessing will be the next kick in the teeth, and will happen any day now, is the fracking bubble bursting. You see, the same pattern of poor regulation, greed, and exploitation of the endless growth fantasy that rocked us in the housing bubble has only been repeated in the fracking bubble. Wall Street has been cheerleading and announcing that the Marcellus and Bakken shale would soon lead to American independence from foreign oil. What a nice sales pitch, sound similar to the belief that house prices would continue to rise forever?
Meanwhile they've been bundling leases on undrilled shale fields. Any place in the US where similar shale deposits were found (whether they had oil, or gas...or nothing of value at all) were bundled and flipped on the basis of grotesquely inflated claims of their income potential; newly minted investment vehicles of more than Byzantine complexity—VPPs, "volumetric production payments," are an example you’ll be hearing about quite a bit in a few months, once the court cases begin. Yes....right when our economy is stumbling. When zero growth has been hidden because of printing presses running at the speed of light. When those printing presses have to stop because of global monetary situations and our debt positions. And when the financial sequester is set to take effect. We will we get hit with another bursting bubble.
Wall Street will position themselves to make record profits from the collapse while Joe investor who's been hearing all the cheerleading and trying desperately to put his money somewhere, anywhere that growth is still happening will lose his lot. Not only will that much more of the masses money get funneled to the elite....We'll need to deal with the resulting rising energy prices when people realize that gas and oil....in fact...our finite resources and that we're actually going to need to start scraping the bottom of the barrel. It's too bad, right when our economy is sitting still. Yes...you hear that? That's the sky, for most of us, preparing to fall. Good luck!!
Monday, January 14, 2013
My congregation
I traveled home this weekend for the inspection of my building and to do some more work on the apartment at my childhood home. The weekend started out as a bit of a fiasco because at the last minute I decided to try to take Sergei (the young man whom I mentor) and made plans to do that and then he changed his mind on going. I also was asked by a friend to take his mother to Erie and that required some frustrating coordination. Everything worked out...but it worked out due to me doing a lot of needless additional stuff. C'est la vie.
I arrived home with a pretty full list of things to get accomplished. Friday morning I woke up and got everything started. The apartment on my aunts house was first. It has poured concrete walls with no insulation. I stared at them wondering how, in all the years able bodied men had owned and lived in the house, insulation had never occurred to them as a good idea. Then I remembered, that like most things in America....the house had been constructed, and used, in the age of abundance. That in an era of growth energy cost was never a factor. And how now, only in an era of persistent decline have those things come to matter. It's a good thing that I, while resources are still available, have decided to do something about the situation. That's something of a comforting feeling when faced with the sad realization that the world is headed into an era of permanent decline. The acceptance of that decline and the knowledge that in some small way...I'm doing what is available to me to prepare for it, and to help others prepare, is very fulfilling.
After setting up my work area and laying out the materials I left the apartment and headed to my building. There I met the inspector, the owner, and the realtor. The inspector and I quickly got to work investigating the details of the building. I took particular interest in the electrical system, plumbing, and the masonry I was worried about on the rear of the building. The inspection took 6 solid hours of work. Then I spent 30 minutes each with 5 of the 7 tenants getting to know them, hearing their complaints and desires, and signing them up for leases that will take effect when I take ownership.
With that very exciting and rewarding day of work accomplished I then had a dinner meeting with what I have begun to think of as my choir. Since about 1996 I've been known to my friends as treehugger Terry. The first 10 years, while I was learning solar photovoltaics, solar thermal, wind generation, etc.. they all thought I was a bit of a weirdo. Enjoyable, but weird. In the last 7 years, my message started to get a bit annoying to some, and a bit enlightening to others. Slowly, as my group of friends began witnessing the same signs I'd been studying for a decade in books, show themselves in real life in the form of climate change, prices quadrupling, etc...(all the things I, and many, many others, had predicted) we all started to attempt to deal with what we were facing. In the last few years as my warning and writings have become even more pointed and direct, and the warning signs more clear and devastating, the choir has grown into a group of 12.
About a year ago my choir, the 12 of us, formed a bit of a pact. Since then we've each worked, inside our own area of expertise and with the help of others, to prepare for the future we see we're facing. A big part of that has been to prepare for a future with less, as well as to position ourselves to prosper when others, having missed the signs, are faced with a reality they get, instead of the future they ordered. Some of the members of the pact are still not fully converts to our crazy beliefs, but the draw of the prosperity our group seems to be attracting has made them productive members.
The purchase of this building is one of those steps. You see, our little group believes that our country is slowly headed for Imperial decline as the result of diminishing availability of the key ingredient of our success...cheap energy. We also believe that expensive energy, coupled with climate change, is going to dramatically change how Americans live. You see, most of the infrastructure of industrial society has been built during the period of abnormally good weather we call the twentieth century. A fair amount of it, as New York subway riders have had reason to learn, is poorly designed to handle extreme weather, and if those extremes become normal, the economics of maintaining such complex systems as the New York subways in the teeth of repeated flooding start to look very dubious indeed.
As we've seen with the the failures to rebuild significant areas after hurricane Katrina, and more recently with Irene, and Sandy.... the population is slowly moving, and will move. Now they might not do so all at once, or as part of their own design. I can't even tell you where they'll come from because predicting where and when disasters will strike isn't a very good line of work to be in. But I'm quite sure they'll be moving. A rise in sea level and a nice hurricane now and then will push some west, it's a pretty sure thing a drought and heat coupled with expensive electricity for their AC units will push many north. A reenactment of the famous dust bowl with aquifers drying up and poor mono crop farming practices will surely send some East. Slowly but surely, over the next century Americans are going to return to a pattern of land development started in the 1800's.
When we glide back down the bell curve of decline then, it's a safe bet that using history as a guide will tell you the areas they'll return to. Reading a urban design book will tell you what makes towns go from trade routes, to agricultural centers...to cultural centers....to industrial centers. What towns need to grow and how they develop isn't something they teach in schools much anymore...but you can find out. Then do a little historical research and see how your town came about. Was it an agricultural center located near a rail line, canal, or navigable body of water? If you can find one conveniently located near all three I bet you'll find an old rotted rust belt city that formerly bustled with wealth and affluence. Purchasing in those areas, where things are currently cheap, then....should be a good recipe. That is if you're lucky enough to choose correctly and not get whacked in the process with the same sort of disasters we're sure to see coming regularly down the pike (and can no longer afford to rebuild after).
And so my little group met. Reassuring ourselves that our ideas our sound. That our religion is true and that others will die a fiery death because they have yet to repent and live their lives embracing our simpler live with less creed. Ignoring evidence that seems to disagree with our hypothesis. All the normal things humans do. Then I returned home to the apartment faced with the task of insulating, weather stripping, etc. Satisfied that my religion, my choice of beliefs about the path of our future, have prepared me for what lay ahead. I had spent the evening preaching to the choir....and it was good.
So I have, or soon will have, purchased in an area where air conditioning is not a necessity. Where water is abundant, sea level is not predicted to reach, transportation and trade are less dependent on cheap energy, etc. I've also created, invested in, or assisted in the development of businesses that have, in the past...proven to be resistant to economic contraction, and spent time obtaining skills and building a like minded community. All this in the hope that, while there are still resources flying around practically free for everyone (who's passport happens to have an eagle on the cover), I can grab them and use them to prepare for the future we're sure to get....not the future we want to get, or hope to get....or in the case of most Americans...require for survival.
As a side note....I regret to inform you that yet again....I've done something horribly stupid and injured myself. You see....as much as I like to scream self righteous, self congratulatory babble on my blog...I'm really a dumbass.
Charles Darwin gives me a frown..
This weekends feeble minded dipshit move was to decide to check the fire escape on the building next to the bar my friend owns to verify it worked properly. The act was, possibly, influenced by an apparent inability of my body to take in and metabolize large quantities of ethanol (drank in the form of beer). You see, the 3rd story has a fire escape with a wonderful view. From there you can go down to the 2nd story....but after that you need to "ride" down the ladder as it will slide down with your weight (but stays raised so the local hooligans do not have access to your building). It's a safe bet that "riding" down the ladder is best done from the fire escape. As it turned out....running through the bar, launching yourself out the window, and grabbing the ladder to ride it down (in true Jackie Chan fashion) has a few less than desirable side effects....even if there seems to be a large pile of snow at the bottom to cushion your fall. The side effects, which I didn't really feel when I initially landed with a thud on a less than cushiony pile of snow....seems to be some sort of injured (but luckily not broken) bone in your foot and irritation of tendonitis in your ailing knees..... DOH!!! Sorry Dad....I'm an idiot. Looks like a few weeks or more of only biking for me :-( If you don't see me on the bike path....look for me here.
I arrived home with a pretty full list of things to get accomplished. Friday morning I woke up and got everything started. The apartment on my aunts house was first. It has poured concrete walls with no insulation. I stared at them wondering how, in all the years able bodied men had owned and lived in the house, insulation had never occurred to them as a good idea. Then I remembered, that like most things in America....the house had been constructed, and used, in the age of abundance. That in an era of growth energy cost was never a factor. And how now, only in an era of persistent decline have those things come to matter. It's a good thing that I, while resources are still available, have decided to do something about the situation. That's something of a comforting feeling when faced with the sad realization that the world is headed into an era of permanent decline. The acceptance of that decline and the knowledge that in some small way...I'm doing what is available to me to prepare for it, and to help others prepare, is very fulfilling.
After setting up my work area and laying out the materials I left the apartment and headed to my building. There I met the inspector, the owner, and the realtor. The inspector and I quickly got to work investigating the details of the building. I took particular interest in the electrical system, plumbing, and the masonry I was worried about on the rear of the building. The inspection took 6 solid hours of work. Then I spent 30 minutes each with 5 of the 7 tenants getting to know them, hearing their complaints and desires, and signing them up for leases that will take effect when I take ownership.
With that very exciting and rewarding day of work accomplished I then had a dinner meeting with what I have begun to think of as my choir. Since about 1996 I've been known to my friends as treehugger Terry. The first 10 years, while I was learning solar photovoltaics, solar thermal, wind generation, etc.. they all thought I was a bit of a weirdo. Enjoyable, but weird. In the last 7 years, my message started to get a bit annoying to some, and a bit enlightening to others. Slowly, as my group of friends began witnessing the same signs I'd been studying for a decade in books, show themselves in real life in the form of climate change, prices quadrupling, etc...(all the things I, and many, many others, had predicted) we all started to attempt to deal with what we were facing. In the last few years as my warning and writings have become even more pointed and direct, and the warning signs more clear and devastating, the choir has grown into a group of 12.
About a year ago my choir, the 12 of us, formed a bit of a pact. Since then we've each worked, inside our own area of expertise and with the help of others, to prepare for the future we see we're facing. A big part of that has been to prepare for a future with less, as well as to position ourselves to prosper when others, having missed the signs, are faced with a reality they get, instead of the future they ordered. Some of the members of the pact are still not fully converts to our crazy beliefs, but the draw of the prosperity our group seems to be attracting has made them productive members.
The purchase of this building is one of those steps. You see, our little group believes that our country is slowly headed for Imperial decline as the result of diminishing availability of the key ingredient of our success...cheap energy. We also believe that expensive energy, coupled with climate change, is going to dramatically change how Americans live. You see, most of the infrastructure of industrial society has been built during the period of abnormally good weather we call the twentieth century. A fair amount of it, as New York subway riders have had reason to learn, is poorly designed to handle extreme weather, and if those extremes become normal, the economics of maintaining such complex systems as the New York subways in the teeth of repeated flooding start to look very dubious indeed.
As we've seen with the the failures to rebuild significant areas after hurricane Katrina, and more recently with Irene, and Sandy.... the population is slowly moving, and will move. Now they might not do so all at once, or as part of their own design. I can't even tell you where they'll come from because predicting where and when disasters will strike isn't a very good line of work to be in. But I'm quite sure they'll be moving. A rise in sea level and a nice hurricane now and then will push some west, it's a pretty sure thing a drought and heat coupled with expensive electricity for their AC units will push many north. A reenactment of the famous dust bowl with aquifers drying up and poor mono crop farming practices will surely send some East. Slowly but surely, over the next century Americans are going to return to a pattern of land development started in the 1800's.
When we glide back down the bell curve of decline then, it's a safe bet that using history as a guide will tell you the areas they'll return to. Reading a urban design book will tell you what makes towns go from trade routes, to agricultural centers...to cultural centers....to industrial centers. What towns need to grow and how they develop isn't something they teach in schools much anymore...but you can find out. Then do a little historical research and see how your town came about. Was it an agricultural center located near a rail line, canal, or navigable body of water? If you can find one conveniently located near all three I bet you'll find an old rotted rust belt city that formerly bustled with wealth and affluence. Purchasing in those areas, where things are currently cheap, then....should be a good recipe. That is if you're lucky enough to choose correctly and not get whacked in the process with the same sort of disasters we're sure to see coming regularly down the pike (and can no longer afford to rebuild after).
And so my little group met. Reassuring ourselves that our ideas our sound. That our religion is true and that others will die a fiery death because they have yet to repent and live their lives embracing our simpler live with less creed. Ignoring evidence that seems to disagree with our hypothesis. All the normal things humans do. Then I returned home to the apartment faced with the task of insulating, weather stripping, etc. Satisfied that my religion, my choice of beliefs about the path of our future, have prepared me for what lay ahead. I had spent the evening preaching to the choir....and it was good.
So I have, or soon will have, purchased in an area where air conditioning is not a necessity. Where water is abundant, sea level is not predicted to reach, transportation and trade are less dependent on cheap energy, etc. I've also created, invested in, or assisted in the development of businesses that have, in the past...proven to be resistant to economic contraction, and spent time obtaining skills and building a like minded community. All this in the hope that, while there are still resources flying around practically free for everyone (who's passport happens to have an eagle on the cover), I can grab them and use them to prepare for the future we're sure to get....not the future we want to get, or hope to get....or in the case of most Americans...require for survival.
As a side note....I regret to inform you that yet again....I've done something horribly stupid and injured myself. You see....as much as I like to scream self righteous, self congratulatory babble on my blog...I'm really a dumbass.
Charles Darwin gives me a frown..
This weekends feeble minded dipshit move was to decide to check the fire escape on the building next to the bar my friend owns to verify it worked properly. The act was, possibly, influenced by an apparent inability of my body to take in and metabolize large quantities of ethanol (drank in the form of beer). You see, the 3rd story has a fire escape with a wonderful view. From there you can go down to the 2nd story....but after that you need to "ride" down the ladder as it will slide down with your weight (but stays raised so the local hooligans do not have access to your building). It's a safe bet that "riding" down the ladder is best done from the fire escape. As it turned out....running through the bar, launching yourself out the window, and grabbing the ladder to ride it down (in true Jackie Chan fashion) has a few less than desirable side effects....even if there seems to be a large pile of snow at the bottom to cushion your fall. The side effects, which I didn't really feel when I initially landed with a thud on a less than cushiony pile of snow....seems to be some sort of injured (but luckily not broken) bone in your foot and irritation of tendonitis in your ailing knees..... DOH!!! Sorry Dad....I'm an idiot. Looks like a few weeks or more of only biking for me :-( If you don't see me on the bike path....look for me here.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Because it was there
I did a big ride tonight and now I can't sleep. Doh!! Did too much I guess. I started around 7 and went until about 10:30. It was cold. So cold in fact that I stopped along the way looking for some newspaper or plastic to shove in my outfit. I found one of those dog poo bag dispensers, took off my shoes, put the bags over my socks, and put my shoes back on. Then I slid a couple down my arms and one on my chest. Then I was better.
I did the normal route downtown until I got to the Key Bridge. I felt really good tonight. I wandered through Georgetown, then went slight right on Pennsylvania. Figured I'd see how Barry and Michele were getting along. There's all this construction in front of their house for the inauguration. The entire streets full of enormous stadium seating. They only have a narrow sidewalk since the road is closed meaning I had to mix with the pedestrians.
From there I rode over around the mall and down to the fish market. I hung out there a bit and watched a big gang playing some sort of card game for money. They were so animated that at first I thought it was a fight. They were just into the game. I couldn't catch on to how the game was played and I sort of stuck out there in my spandex, so I continued on.
I went over to the Anacostia river trail. I followed that until I got into the rough part of town and then I did a few loops through the neighborhoods people watching. What a cold miserable night for those poor homeless people. After some people watching I headed back over to the river. Instead of getting on the river trail I went on down to the train station. I wanted to see where the homeless man in Alexandria told me you can get on the trains. Sure enough there's a curve where the trains slow way down.
From there the road followed the tracks so I took that until it dead ended at the river. It wasn't exactly an area where you dilly-dally so instead of turning back where I came, I made the instant decision to cross the train trestle. It was a bit tough in my cycling shoes carrying my bike. At first it's normal with rocks between the ties, then once you're over the river it gets a bit more precarious. As I got over to the other side the US Park Police came over and nabbed me. Turns out they prefer only train traffic to traverse the train trestle. Bummer. They gave me a pretty good lecture about the inauguration and them being on high alert. They asked me why I was out on the bridge and I told them I was headed this way and it was there. They were sure I had bombs hidden under my spandex and I thought they might be wanting to do a cavity search so I kept quiet and said yes sir a lot. They sat me in their car and ran my social security number and lectured me some more. Then they sent me on my way.
From there I circled back to the stadium until I could see the capital. Then I went along the Potomac back through Georgetown and back towards home. By then I had like 3hrs out there and I was starting to get tired. When I got back to the W&OD I decided to time myself home. I pretty much went as hard as I could. It took me 45:33. Doing a bit of math that means I averaged 24miles per hour. That's pretty good with the hill at the finish and all that. I felt my power drop pretty bad the last 7 or 8 minutes. Probably did 26mph until the hills and then it dropped down. I guess I should look into a power meter again.
Ok, off to sleep.
I did the normal route downtown until I got to the Key Bridge. I felt really good tonight. I wandered through Georgetown, then went slight right on Pennsylvania. Figured I'd see how Barry and Michele were getting along. There's all this construction in front of their house for the inauguration. The entire streets full of enormous stadium seating. They only have a narrow sidewalk since the road is closed meaning I had to mix with the pedestrians.
From there I rode over around the mall and down to the fish market. I hung out there a bit and watched a big gang playing some sort of card game for money. They were so animated that at first I thought it was a fight. They were just into the game. I couldn't catch on to how the game was played and I sort of stuck out there in my spandex, so I continued on.
I went over to the Anacostia river trail. I followed that until I got into the rough part of town and then I did a few loops through the neighborhoods people watching. What a cold miserable night for those poor homeless people. After some people watching I headed back over to the river. Instead of getting on the river trail I went on down to the train station. I wanted to see where the homeless man in Alexandria told me you can get on the trains. Sure enough there's a curve where the trains slow way down.
From there the road followed the tracks so I took that until it dead ended at the river. It wasn't exactly an area where you dilly-dally so instead of turning back where I came, I made the instant decision to cross the train trestle. It was a bit tough in my cycling shoes carrying my bike. At first it's normal with rocks between the ties, then once you're over the river it gets a bit more precarious. As I got over to the other side the US Park Police came over and nabbed me. Turns out they prefer only train traffic to traverse the train trestle. Bummer. They gave me a pretty good lecture about the inauguration and them being on high alert. They asked me why I was out on the bridge and I told them I was headed this way and it was there. They were sure I had bombs hidden under my spandex and I thought they might be wanting to do a cavity search so I kept quiet and said yes sir a lot. They sat me in their car and ran my social security number and lectured me some more. Then they sent me on my way.
From there I circled back to the stadium until I could see the capital. Then I went along the Potomac back through Georgetown and back towards home. By then I had like 3hrs out there and I was starting to get tired. When I got back to the W&OD I decided to time myself home. I pretty much went as hard as I could. It took me 45:33. Doing a bit of math that means I averaged 24miles per hour. That's pretty good with the hill at the finish and all that. I felt my power drop pretty bad the last 7 or 8 minutes. Probably did 26mph until the hills and then it dropped down. I guess I should look into a power meter again.
Ok, off to sleep.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Making progress
I've been diligently going to my physical therapy as well as doing my physical therapy at home. I took around 3 weeks off completely from running and only biked twice. Sunday I did my first pain free bicycle ride. I still feel a bit of pain here and there when I climb stairs or kneel. The doctor thinks I should wait an other week or two before I start running. She said I can bike to extremes as long as I'm very diligent about stretching and foam rolling, etc.
I've been pouring my energies into the building purchase lately instead. The darned bank is asking for documents written in blood, documents to support the documents, documents to support the validity of the blood, and so on. It's such a pain in the ass. The current owner hadn't been renewing the leases of the people which basically makes them month to month rentors. The bank required leases so I had to work with all of the rentors to setup leases. Of course they were all scared I was giving them the boot or raising their rents or pestering them about their cats (that aren't permitted) or any other number of things. I like it though. It's better than IT work.
I travel there this weekend for the inspection. It should take 8 hours. The inspector likes to have the buyer accompany him so it'll be a good chance to see all the details of the building. We'll get up on the roof, check the masonry that's worrying me, etc. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm also going to try to talk the owner, who has the law office on the first floor, into a zero dollar lease. Instead of giving his asking price with a mandatory 2yr lease, I'll lower the per month rent price, take that off the offer, effectively giving him a free stay for 2 years. I have a few things in mind like that. We'll see.
Last time I was home I started the process of getting my mom's place ready. The house is done and for sale so now I'm on to my aunt's place and the apartment my mom was thinking to use. I did about 70% of the insulation last trip and that was a tough but rewarding job. I re plumbed the bathroom sink and bathtub and ran a better drain line in the kitchen. This trip I'll finish that insulation. Going to need to tear up a board in the attic and blow in insulation there. Then the nasty job of climbing into the small attic, feeding the hose in there, turning it on, and slowly dragging it out as it fills...over and over for each run. That'll be a tough job.
My mom, aunt, and I used my works meeting software to go over our plans for the layout of the place. My mom decided to just stay on my aunts side and they'll rent out the apartment instead. They have some agreement worked out. I'll need to add a wall to make it a 2 bedroom apartment. It's an awkward space so I'll need to stand in there and think a bit. I'll also add a wall on the east side of the house because it's only the concrete wall there with no insulation on either side. Brrrrr!!!! My mom found my nail gun and compressor so I'm all set with that. Non weight bearing walls go up quick. Then insulate and drywall (ugh...mudding, taping, and sanding sucks!)
The living room has original hardwood floor I'll need to refinish. The kitchen and laundry room will get cheap laminate "wood" flooring. The bedroom needs a layer of plywood and then new carpeting. I'm going to get away with not raising the exterior door by leaving it just concrete there and shaving a board to cover the 1/2 inch step up. It's not ideal...but it's an apartment. After that mom will paint and get it rented. My aunts mortgage is $480 a month and I researched rents in the area and we should be able to get around $350-400. My mom's really into this property management stuff. She's really enjoying helping me, planning, and reading all the information I send her about how to manage tenants. I think she sees investing in real estate with me as a ticket out of the factory before she's 90 so she's really soaking it up. It's awesome to work with her.
I've had some interesting dates lately. My binders full of women seem to get out of hand or I get frustrated, then just when I decided I'm done chasing women it seems they turn to chasing me....so I can't get out either way. Last week this Russian girl I'd been flirting with for an entire year called me out of the blue and asked me out. I found myself sitting across from her on our date in total awe. She's the absolute most beautiful woman I've ever been on a date with. I usually never lack confidence with women but I found myself sitting there thinking I'd never land this chick....
But she's continued to text me. So we'll see. I also got an email on my dating website from another Russian girl. She hadn't filled out her profile or added a picture or anything, so I was reluctant to even respond. She asked me out and then seemed frustrated that I was busy. Then sent me a nasty email saying she wasn't on this site to find a penpal and if I wanted to meet I better hop to it. I explained to her that if she couldn't even be bothered to put in the effort to fill out her profile or correspond to people....or even share her picture....that I'd just assume she was a fat hairy Russian man. I'm not into fat hairy Russian men....so she needs to do some work on that profile, be nicer, or move on. Seems she has taken the last option. Dasvidania
I've also been talking to a friend from high schools sister. It's actually a sort of funny story. I was there for the Grape Jamboree and was helping out at my buddies bar when this cute blond came in. My friend Jennifer came over and introduced us and I used the both of them to assist me with standing. Before too long it seems my hand found its way into places that it shouldn't. She didn't seem to mind but there was another young man in the bar that wasn't excited with my tactile exploration. Luckily her brother, who is my friend, got rid of the fellow for me.
Anyways, turns out a few months later she went ahead and got rid of that fellow for good. She found out I was in town recently and asked Sonny for my information, and has been writing me. She's an interesting character. I'm enjoying corresponding with her.
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