Spend money on infrastructure now

Seattle is getting ready to start work on the replacement for the SR99 viaduct through Seattle.  We're still not sure if it's going to be a bridge, a tunnel, a boulevard, or a wormhole.  As soon as a plan is locked someone decides we need to talk about it some more.  Come on people.  I don't care if it's not the best solution, as long as it's good enough.  Just shut up and dig!

But that's a rant for another day.  Today I want to highlight some good news from the Seattle Times last week.  It concerns the first phase of the construction.

The low bid for the Sodo section of the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement came in Wednesday morning nearly $40 million lower than the state's estimate.

Skanska USA, of Riverside, Calif., was the apparent low bidder at $114.6 million. The project, from South Holgate Street to South King Street, features a large interchange that connects the two sports stadiums to the planned tunnel, as well as tourist and shipping destinations on Elliott Bay.

The project will create about 600 construction jobs, the state says.

There were six bidders for the work, all of whom were below the state engineers' estimate of $153 million, a reflection of the recession making construction companies hungry for business.

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I continue to see calls from various activists to reign in government spending because of the recession.  That is exactly the wrong thing to do.  I made a similar point just over a year ago.

We should spend money on durable infrastructure NOW.  Why now when budgets are strained and people are out of work?

• Interest rates are low so financing is cheap.
• Steel and construction materials are less expensive now than in a booming economy.
• Construction companies want more work are willing to build for less.
• Labor is readily available.
• Land acquisition is cheaper.

That's why it's cheaper to build now, and that means better long term savings for the tax payers.  We can get a bargain on stuff that will last us decades.  That's what we see in the first phase of the SR99 replacement and in a few other construction bids that have gone out.

Why else should we do it? 

Well, it's a great way to get people working -- to get money into the economy for the benefit of all of us without increasing the welfare roles.  When construction workers make money, they spend money so those dollars don't just stop at the city/state spending it.  Additionally, we also have to remember that we get a chunk of that pay and construction costs back in tax revenue.

Why shouldn't we just wait until the economy improves and "we can afford it?"

First of all, we'll need the infrastructure once employment and commerce are back to their roaring pace.  If we don't start building until then, the projects will all come on line just in time for the next recession.

Second, it's bad for big business.  When the economy is strong and big business is building its own infrastructure, it makes less sense for government to compete with business for materials and labor.  Trying to do major public infrastructure and major private infrastructure at the same time just drives up the costs for everyone.

Building major public infrastructure in the recession and at the tail end of a recession is good for the city/state, it's good for the unemployed, and it's good for big business.

The economy is improving.  The window on this recession opportunity it closing.

Start digging now.

Eco Roof Problems

Green roofs are becoming more popular.  They are a great way to minimize runoff and relieve the strain on storm sewers.  They can also help regulate city temperatures, when present in significant enough quantities, and reduce C02 output.

They also look really cool and put us on the path of turning out metropolitan centers into modern day Hobbitons.

As they become more popular, we'll here more about problems like this -- weeds.

City offices moved into the $9 million, two-story building at the corner of Harbor Point Boulevard and Cyrus Way a year later, just before last Christmas.

Invasive clover moved in some time after that.

Now workers are busy removing all the vegetation from the new City Hall's weed-infested roof, along with the soil and the contaminated seed-filled mulch. All the clover has killed most of the greenery the city intended to be up there.

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Apparently clover was in the mulch a contractor laid down, and it took over and replaced all the other plants.

This is not an indictment of the Green Roof.  It's just one of those things that happens.  No matter what technology or process we use, things can go wrong.  And plants on roofs are no diferent.  But that's no reason to stop building them.

Workers began removing the old roofing material early last week. They expect the replacement to be finished in a couple weeks.

How much is the replacement costing the city?

Not a dime, said Niggemyer. It's all under warranty.

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Replacing local newspapers

I have a copy of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on top of my entertainment center. It's dated 2009-03-17. It was the last time I bought a copy of it.

It's the last time anyone bought a copy of it.

After that day, the Seattle PI became the first major newspaper in the country to go online only.

While the Seattle Times sill prints a daily edition, papers around the country -- from Boston to Denver to San Francisco -- are facing financial catastrophes. More papers will close in the coming years.

Neighborhood blogs are popping up in Seattle and doing some great work. My new favorite source for local news is the Capitol Hill Blog. The news stories are more relevant to my everyday life than most of the stories in the Seattle Times. They cover what's going on with my neighbors, and what's happening just down the street. It's a great source for information, and one of the few RSS feeds I read throughout the day.

Other neighborhood blogs have also popped up. Alki Point denizens have the West Seattle Blog at their finger tips, whereas residents of the Central District can surf over to the Central District News.

These bloggers don't just blather on like I do. They are doing real journalism. These neighborhood blogs fill an important niche and do a better job in the niche than the print PI ever could.

This allows an interesting model for the metropolitan newspaper website. With the proliferation of neighborhood blogs, the metro paper can take on the role of news agregator and mainly link to stories produced by the neighborhood blogs. With a limited reporting staff, that may be their only viable option. The SeattlePI.com is already moving in that direction.

And that wouldn't be too much of a change from the way many papers are already run. It seems the percentage of AP stories versus orignal content in local papers has already increased significantly over the past decade. They've already outsourced their national coverage, why not out source their hyper-local coverage?

There's a gap, though.

While the neigborhood blogs cover the neighborhood, and national media and wire services covers the national issues, what happens to coverage at the state and municipal level? The neighborhood blogs don't have the resources to do deep investigative work. Can we count on local TV news for that? The short format discourages indepth journalism.

As newspapers decline, I'm worried about coverage of the mid-size government and corporate entities.

But in the meantime, I'm glad to have found the Capitol Hill Blog. You can also follow them on Twitter @jseattle

How are the neighborhood blogs in your area?

Life in the Garden Part 12: Gardening to save money?

I started my garden because it seemed silly to spend $3 or $4 for fresh basil whenever I wanted it. I thought I could buy a plant for that same amount and keep harvesting it.

In the end, instead of spending $50-$60 a year for fresh herbs and vegetables, I've committed nearly $4,000 to the garden over the past 6 years.

It's been fun.
It's been educational.
It's been delicious.

It definitely hasn't saved me any money.

Perhaps if I had an acre or so, I could achieve some economies of scale, but that's not the case.

This is a lesson other people are just starting to learn.

According to a recent article in the Seattle Times, there is a run on seeds. People who have lost their jobs, or who are afraid of losing their jobs, are turning to gardens to grow food and save money.

Sue is the one who answers the phone at the couple's Irish Eyes Garden Seeds, which produces more than 400 kinds of seeds (mostly vegetables), as well as 70 different kinds of potatoes and 25 kinds of garlic.

By some of the questions they get from customers, the couple know these are first-time gardeners.

"We had one person ask us which way the seed goes in the ground," says Sue.

These days, she's handling 100 customer calls a day, and the family business expects to gross $1 million in sales this year. Business is up 20 to 30 percent over last year, both in seeds under its own label and seeds it packages for companies such as Burpee and Park Seed.

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A retail garden store like Sky Nursery in Shoreline says seed business is up "at least 20 percent."

And Burpee, the Pennsylvania-based world's largest seed company, says business also is up by that much.

Although it came up with the idea too late for this year's print catalog, on its Web site Burpee sells a "Money Garden" that for $10 puts together $20 worth of pea, tomato, pepper, bean, lettuce and carrot seeds.

It says the seeds will produce "over $650 worth of vegetables!"

"People are belt-tightening, particularly on large-ticket items," says George Ball, chairman of Burpee. "It results in an almost Depression mentality."

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The article also discusses how some people are moving to gardening for purer, organic, non-GMO food, and others are taking up gardening to gain some control over their lives.

Those may be viable reasons, but without significant space, saving money through gardening is not likely to be a viable option for most new gardeners.

I don't want to discourage gardening and growing herbs, vegetables, fruit, etc. It's a great feeling to eat something you grow. But it takes practice or knowledge. And while you can start for low cost, it's tough to compete with low cost/high volume food available at the supermarket, farmer's market, or even specialty grocery store.

I am worried that new gardeners will start their crops to save money, and be discouraged by from continuing by the costs. And that would be a shame.

Union Ad in Seattle Times

I saw this ad in the Seattle Times on 2008-11-09.

Recently, Boeing and its machinists union ended a strike that went on for more than 8 weeks. Boeing now faces a possible strike with it's engineering union.

This ad (click the image for a larger version), which purports to be from the union mechanics at a local Ford dealership, chastises the other unions in the Seattle area for not supporting one another. It call on member of the IAM,SPEEA, and other organizations to support all union workers by buying only from other unionized companies.

We support you in all your endeavors. But do we support each other? We think not. Is support between unions often nothing mor than lip service used to threaten management? Clearly, we don't begin to support each other nearly enough. We are aware of even our own union leaders purcahsing non-union-made automobiles and not having them serviced by union technicians. We can all make excuses. Or are you just hypocrites who won't put your money where your mouth is?

It goes on from there.

The point of the ad is to encourage union members to bring their vehicles to Sound Ford for service.

Printed in smaller- (but certainly not fine-) print at the end of the ad, it says, "Paid for by Sound Ford in support of its Union Service Technicians."

I am neither and big union supporter, nor a union hater. I'm not sure how I feel about this ad. On the one hand, calling on those with similar interests to bring their business to you makes sense. On the other hand, it seems like cheap shot some how.

Regardless, it's an interesting move.

Bungee jumping and life coaches

A recent article in the Seattle Times addressed Bungee Jumping and the Walk of Shame.

Mount Hood bungee tower's "Walk of shame"

By MARK MORICAL

There are no refunds, so those who pay — to borrow a phrase from the Van Halen song — might as well jump. But it can be intimidating to stand up there looking straight down at the huge air bag on the ground far below. Some take a long time to attain the right state of mind for the jump.

Or to forget it and take the walk of shame.

"One guy did seven jumps in one day," said Greg Aldrich, a manager at the adventure park. "People are really confident after one time. But I've also had the burliest of men go up there and walk back down. We give everybody a lot of time. We're part motivational speakers and life coaches up there."

...

Rory Mehlman, a 27-year-old from Brightwood, decided she would try it. Her harness clipped onto the bungee cord, she stood on the edge of the platform, trying to summon the courage to leap.

"Come on, Rory!" her friends shouted from below.

"Why did I do this?" she asked no one in particular. "Is it better if you close your eyes or not?"

Finally, she said solemnly, "I can't do it."

With that, she stepped away from the brink and made the long, slow walk down the steps of the metal tower.

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That would make them some of the least expensive life coaches and motivational speakers on the market. Actually, being a motivational speaker sounds like a fun job. But that's not what I'm posting about today.

This story took me back to the summer of 1992. I stopped outside of Chicago on my way from New York to Helena, MT. I had some friends to visit in the area, and we decided to go bungee jumping.

It cost about $80. The jump was from a bucket hung from a crane over a lake. As we rode the bucket up, my main thought wasn't that the rope would fail, or that I would hit the water. I was worried about swinging wildly and smacking into the crane boom. After a few tense moments, we reached the top.

I stood on the edge of the bucket and looked down. It was a lot further than I thought. I began to feel this was a big mistake, and seriously considered riding the bucket down, instead of the elastic. But I knew the people I was there with. And they knew me. And we would all remember this. So I calling on every last ounce of male ego, I decided I would be too embarrassed to ride back down. To save my pride, I stepped a little further out on the edge of the bucket and jumped.

I attempted to swan dive, but, since I have all the grace of several large stones, I instead jumped straight forward with my hand held stupidly above my head, like Wylie Coyote dancing as a crazed ballerina pirouetting off the edge of the cliff.

Like the Coyote, though, I was going down, silly moves or not.

As I plummeted toward the water, I let fly a spray of expletives that even I had never heard before. At moments like that, the minds dips into the Jungian world of the collective unconscious lexicon to grab just the right phrase. It failed.

While all this was going on, my mind went a different way and two thoughts occurred to me.

1. "I though the world would look more upside down than it does."
2. "If I ever decide to kill myself, it won't be by jumping off of something high."

I dwelled on those odd thoughts while screaming and bouncing up an down on a giant rubber band. They seemed perfectly logical at the time and are the clearest memories I have of that day. Eventually the bouncing stopped, they lowered me to the shore, and I began planning my next trip.

Are you a fugitive and want to turn yourself in? Bring your ID

A wanted rape suspect tried to turn himself in at the local jail the other day. The folks at the jail told him to go away. Is this really a good idea?

Full article here.

Jail Director Steve Thompson said staff turned Baker away because he didn't have a driver's license or any other identification to prove he was the person sought by deputies.

Baker was asked to go to the Sheriff's Office, inside the courthouse, to straighten things out, Thompson said.

"Surprisingly, many people show up without their ID, like [Baker] did," Thompson said. "It's illegal for us to detain people when we can't confirm who they are."

A creative chamber of commerce

From the Seattle Times:

"Tumbleweed Junction" Was Already Taken:

Moses Lake, an Eastern Washington town surrounded by desert, has a new slogan: "Water sports capital of the United States." A Moses Lake spokesman told The Associated Press that the "Water Sports" logo, signs and marketing campaign "would be phased in slowly to allow time for development of water activities and businesses."

How to Create News

This is the head line and lead story on the Seattle Times on 2007-06-12:

Boeing finds 787 pieces aren't quite a perfect fit
By Dominic Gates
Seattle Times aerospace reporter

On the left-hand side of the Dreamliner fuselage, a gap of 0.3 inch appeared during initial joining of the nose-and-cockpit section to the section behind it. Through the gap, the factory ceiling is visible. The photo, which appears to be an internal photo shared among program workers at Boeing and the manufacturers of the two sections, was sent anonymously to The Seattle Times.

In theory, the giant plastic sections of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner that come in from across the globe all fit perfectly for a quick snap-together assembly in Everett.

But in the real world, it turns out there can be gaps.

Photos of the final-assembly process provided anonymously to The Seattle Times show the jet's first two forward sections did not fit properly when initially joined. On one side, there was a gap wide enough to stick a finger in.

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The Boeing 787 is really a game changing aircraft for the industry. It's also one of the most closely watched product development stories in history. From aircraft performance to manufacturing techniques, the 787 is simply different.

So it's not surprising the Seattle Times would jump on the this issues. Gaps in aircraft are generally really bad things. So what does this leading story mean? Does Boeing have to redo the entire design? Is the manufacturing process fundamentally flawed? Is Boeing about to go the way of Airbus and redefine New Product Debacle?

Given the prominence this story got in the paper, doe it portend thousands of layoffs?

After all, this story bumped even Paris Hilton out of the top, most important news section.

So what does this gap mean?

It turns out -- nothing.

Boeing said that within the past week the problem has been safely fixed and the gap eliminated. Company spokeswomen said the gap was a typical issue in putting an airplane together.

"The join in those pictures is now resolved," said 787 program spokeswoman Yvonne Leach. "It's not a problem now."

Her colleague, Mary Hanson, added, "It wasn't a perfect go-together the first time. There were a few challenges. We overcame them."

"In general, [Boeing's engineers] are pleased with how all the joints are going," she said.

Spirit spokeswoman Sam Marnick called the gap "a slight fit issue with the first barrel -- nothing unusual with a new program."

"Quickly resolved"
advertising

She said the matter "was quickly resolved and we learned as we moved onto the next one."

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A later entry updates the issue and suggests "disconnecting some of the stanchions on the LH side and pushing/pulling on the [Spirit section] in an attempt to align it to the [Kawasaki section]."

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