Waiting for my stitches to heal

Posted on September 28, 2016 by Jim deMaine

cone-of-shame

On the sidewalk yesterday. Looks sad with the “cone of shame.”

Posted in In the Neighborhood | Comments Off on Waiting for my stitches to heal

Strength for the Journey – program for early memory loss at Harborview

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Jim deMaine

A six week small group experience for people living with early stage memory loss

Mondays, 1—2:30 pm
Oct 17—Nov 21
Harborview Medical Center, Seattle
Come together to explore inner strengths and emotions, hopes and fears, and strategies for living with memory loss.
Program offered through the UW Memory & Brain Wellness Center and the Spiritual Care Department.

Session Topics
 Telling our Stories
 Growing through Challenging Times
 Our Relationships
 Hopes and Fears
 Being with the Unknown
 Living in our New Reality
Optional session on first day for family members and friends of participants, for informal sharing and education.
To register or for more information,
contact Mari Becker at the Memory & Brain Wellness Center,
(206) 744-2017, mbecker1@uw.edu

Posted in Health | 1 Comment

Tree-planting robots could save Northwest forests

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Jim deMaine

drones-550x440

From Crosscut: “In the summer of 2015, Grant Canary, an entrepreneur with two startups under his belt who was looking for his next venture, was brainstorming ways to make a dent in carbon dioxide pollution, one of the main culprits in climate change. He mocked up idea after idea but always got the same response form his colleagues: His scheme would never pencil out as a business. “There was no customer appeal,” Canary explains.

“There are two sustainabilities — one is the sustainability of carbon, and the other is the sustainability of the business,” he says. He just couldn’t seem to make them line up.

“At the end of the day, sitting at the bar, he thought to himself: ‘Screw it, I’ll just plant trees.'”

Click here for more.

Posted in environment | Comments Off on Tree-planting robots could save Northwest forests

Where Mom sleeps

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Jim deMaine

Posted in Humor | Comments Off on Where Mom sleeps

Why do obese patients get worse care?

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Jim deMaine

It seems to be true. Doctors focus on the obesity and often forgo an opportunity to treat the patient’s other problems. My sister went to a prominent clinic in Cleveland for breathing issues and basically was told that she was “too fat.” I knew this did not really explain her shortness of breath, so I referred her on to the University Hospital in Pittsburgh where a diagnosis of Pulmonary Fibrosis was established by a lung biopsy and pulmonary function tests. Why didn’t doctors recognize this sooner and do the appropriate tests?

It’s true that the obesity epidemic is costing a lot for everyone including the lives of patients. Hospitals need to purchase “big boy” beds, huge operating tables, special scales, and special scanners. Bariatric surgery is flourishing. Sleep labs are finding an epidemic of sleep apnea in the patients with huge necks. It’s now a lucrative business for the sleep labs and the C-PAP manufacturers.

But none of this can excuse us from “profiling” the obese patient. Once in my office, I saw and treated a very obese patient for an unrelated problem. On the way out she said, “I’d like to thank for you for not telling me I’m too fat. I know that and I’m trying to lose weight. So thanks for just treating me like a normal patient.”

The NYT highlights this issue. Click here for the article.

Posted in Health | Comments Off on Why do obese patients get worse care?

George Washington owned slaves. Should we rename the state?

Posted on September 25, 2016 by Jim deMaine

Sounds a bit wacky doesn’t it in this article from Crosscut? Rename our State? How about all the other sites, schools, parks, and our nation’s capitol? Well, as stated in Crosscut, slavery was America’s “original sin” and George Washington owned slaves, as did many in that era including Thomas Jefferson. It’s hard for a white writer to enter this debate. But at least talking about race, our new National African-American Museum on the, yes, the National Mall in Washington DC is healthy. And we do need to understand our past in order to pave the way for the attempts at a post-racist society. A huge undertaking with many awkward steps, but the ceremony at the new museum brought focus the steps we must continue to take. See two Presidents below.

Posted in History, Politics, Race, Social justice | 1 Comment

What do you “purrfer?”

Posted on September 24, 2016 by Jim deMaine

Image result for new yorker cartoons

Posted in Humor | Comments Off on What do you “purrfer?”

The Founding of UPS was in Seattle

Posted on September 24, 2016 by Jim deMaine

When we think of Seattle startups, I never hear UPS mentioned. But it was not only founded here by Jim Casey but he left an incredible three legacies: UPS, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Casey Family Programs.

“In 1907, 19-year-old James (Jim) Casey founded the American Messenger Company in Seattle, Washington He served as president, CEO and chairman. Claude Ryan was his partner and his messengers were his brother George and other teenagers. His motto was “best service and lowest rates“. Deliveries were made on foot, bicycle, or motorcycle.[1]

“In 1913, Jim Casey agreed to merge with Evert McCabe’s Motorcycle Messengers. Merchants Parcel Delivery was formed and focused now on packages. Their first delivery car was a 1913 Ford Model T.[1]

“In 1919, the company expanded beyond Seattle and changed its name to United Parcel Service (UPS).

“He consistently gave credit to his mother, Annie E. Casey, for holding their family together after Jim’s father died. As a youngster delivering packages on the Seattle streets, Jim Casey was exposed to the excesses of a bustling city in the midst of the Klondike Gold Rush. He credited the guidance of a strong mother and support of his family with keeping him grounded.

“The successful businessman sought ways to help those who lacked the family life he found to be so crucial. With his brothers George and Harry and his sister Marguerite, Mr. Casey created Casey Family Programs in 1966 to help children who were unable to live with their birth parents—giving them stability and an opportunity to grow to responsible adulthood.”

By the time of his death, Mr. Casey left three amazing legacies: United Parcel Service, the Annie E. Casey Foundation (assets of about $2.5 billion at the end of 2015), and Casey Family Programs (assets of about $2.2 billion). So remember when the brown truck with the “brown Santa Claus” shows up out front, that it all started with Jim Casey right here in Seattle. Click here for more about Jim Casey’s story.

Posted in Business, In the Neighborhood, Philanthropy, Social justice | Comments Off on The Founding of UPS was in Seattle

Pakistan’s National Baseball Team Arrives, Improbably, in Brooklyn

Posted on September 24, 2016 by Jim deMaine

Despite lacking resources and any history of success, the Pakistani national baseball team has managed to rise in the world rankings. The key is cricket players.

Just when we’re agonizing over the Mariners, a story pops up in the New Yorker about a Pakistani baseball team. What, baseball in the former British Empire? I once drove a VW Beetle from Peshawar to Lahore and saw several cricket fields, but no baseball diamonds. That’s because there aren’t any in Pakistan! Click here to read about this improbable team finding its dream.

Posted in Sports | Comments Off on Pakistan’s National Baseball Team Arrives, Improbably, in Brooklyn

Cheating

Posted on September 24, 2016 by Jim deMaine

cheat-death

Posted in Humor | Comments Off on Cheating

Amazon has swallowed downtown Seattle

Posted on September 24, 2016 by Jim deMaine

The Space Needle in Seattle, left, near Amazon's new office tower and spheres.

From Bloomberg news: “Walk down Seventh Avenue in downtown Seattle and you can’t miss them: three gigantic spheres resembling melted-together Milk Duds rising in the shadow of Amazon’s new 500-foot-tall office tower. The architectural oddity has already become a tourist attraction and social media phenomenon. Passersby snap photographs and watch construction crews attach glass panes to the steel frames. Images stream through Instagram and Twitter.

“When they open in 2018, the 100-foot-tall orbs—Amazon calls them Biospheres—will host more than 300 plant species from around the world, creating what the company sees as the workplace of the future. Amazonians will be able to break from their daily labors to walk amid the greenery along suspension bridges and climb into meeting spaces resembling bird nests perched in mature trees, where the company expects them to brainstorm—and perhaps even invent the next billion-dollar opportunity.”

Tours can be scheduled here: http://www.amazonhqtours.com/

 

Posted in In the Neighborhood | Comments Off on Amazon has swallowed downtown Seattle

Installing the new pendant system

Posted on September 23, 2016 by William Calvin

The concept of the new system is excellent:  it uses triangulation to locate the pendant in 3D space.  I do have a problem with how ugly the installation is:

img_5776

Any Skyline prospect with some engineering background, visiting in search of an apartment, would probably flag that 24th floor hallway installation as an indication that unseen things might have also suffered from sloppy installation at Skyline; if reputation is important, things like this must be cleaned up.  Dangling wires are also tempting to some passing adolescent whose fingers like to yank on things. No shock hazard, at least.

I notice that, of all the boxes I’ve spotted so far, none are oriented vertically as the instruction sheet recommends:
repeater

It also seems there is no call for using such a bulky transformer: the specs say the device draws 1.6 watts, about what a little white iphone charger cube uses.  Their transformer draws 38 watts from the 110 volt socket (think 40 watt light bulb) and delivers 20 (the rest goes to heat, par for the course).

Part of the problem was probably judging this product from a brochure rather than visiting an actual installation and imagining such a thing in a resident’s living room:  nowhere on the inovonics.com website do they show the complete installation, only the ivory box. Even when they sell the two as a package, no photo.

I’d recommend not paying the vendor until they clean up the installation wiring and paint the black transformer ivory.  It pays to go visit an actual installation before ordering something this expensive.

Posted in Skyline Info | 3 Comments

The “seat of civilization”

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Jim deMaine

From Gordon Gray

History repeating itself: gender-neutral bathroom –

outhouse

My father said that as a rowdy youngster, he used to tip these over at Halloween – until one time a farmer was on the throne. They barely escaped!

Posted in Humor, Photography, Social justice | Comments Off on The “seat of civilization”

Places residents have been

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Jim deMaine

From Ann Milam – Easter Island

easter-island

What’s your favorite picture – please share!

 

Posted in Travel | Comments Off on Places residents have been

A Kiss or …….?

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Jim deMaine

Image result for peanuts comics

Posted in Humor | Comments Off on A Kiss or …….?

Things are getting better – really!

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Jim deMaine

If you believe social media and even mainstream media, things are really bad and getting worse, right? Well, wrong according to Kristoff’s Op-ed in the NYT. I’ve always wondered what the daily news would look like during the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, or even the wild west. The nightly news seems to satisfy (if not promote) a lust for blood and guts type stuff. But the overall trend seems to truly be much better (though far from perfect).

“■ As recently as 1981, when I was finishing college, 44 percent of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty, according to the World Bank. Now the share is believed to be less than 10 percent and falling. “This is the best story in the world today,” says Jim Yong Kim, the president of the World Bank.

“■ For the entire history of the human species until the 1960s, a majority of adults were illiterate. Now 85 percent of adults worldwide are literate and the share is rising.

“■ Although inequality has risen in America, the global trend is more encouraging: Internationally, inequality is on the decline because of gains by the poor in places like China and India.”

Click here for “The Best News You Don’t Know”

Posted in Education, Health, History, Social justice | Comments Off on Things are getting better – really!

Remarkable Journeys With Six Photographers

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Jim deMaine

We all have traveled, often to exotic places and have wonderful pictures to share – a child, a sunset, a safari, a Greek temple, etc. Please consider sending your story and picture(s) to post in order to share your unique experiences. In the NYT today there is a wonderful photo essay. Click here to view.

Here’s one of my own favorite photos – an Afghan stone mason in his shop in 1965. Note the small booklet of the Koran sayings hanging from his shirt pocket – and the nearby ever present tea for hospitality.

kabul-stone-mason

Posted in Photography | Comments Off on Remarkable Journeys With Six Photographers

How We Got Here: DNA Points to a Single Migration From Africa

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Jim deMaine

Did you ever wonder where we can from and how? Genetic trees are now discovered by gene sequencing – something never even dreamed of until recently. The NYT reports that there appears to be a single wave emigrating from Africa between 50,000 and 80,000 years ago confirmed recently by three different research groups. “Examining their data separately, all three groups came to the same conclusion: People everywhere descend from a single migration of early humans from Africa. The estimates from the studies point to an exodus somewhere between 80,000 and 50,000 years.

“Despite earlier research, the teams led by Dr. Willerslev and Dr. Reich found no genetic evidence that there was an earlier migration giving rise to people in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

“The vast maj”ority of their ancestry — if not all of it — is coming from the same out-of-Africa wave as Europeans and Asians,” said Dr. Willerslev.”

It one more piece of data as to how interlinked we are on this small vulnerable planet!

Posted in Science and Technology | Comments Off on How We Got Here: DNA Points to a Single Migration From Africa

Views (as in New York)

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Jim deMaine

Image result for june 11 2001 new yorker

 (from by Yvonne Powell) No caption needed!

Posted in In the Neighborhood | Comments Off on Views (as in New York)

Topping out the western wall

Posted on September 20, 2016 by William Calvin

img_5771-1.jpg

43 stories (left), 34 stories but twice as wide (right).

Posted in In the Neighborhood, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Topping out the western wall

Friends?

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Jim deMaine

Image result for new yorker cartoons

Posted in Humor | Comments Off on Friends?

License to kill: How Washington may lose its right to wipe out salmon

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Jim deMaine

From Crosscut: “So you’re a salmon heading upstream this fall. It hasn’t rained much for months. The water is low. You reach a culvert that takes the stream under a state highway. The culvert was installed higher than it should have been. In February, water may gush through the pipe. But now, when the water level is low, it doesn’t even reach the pipe. Guess you won’t be spawning this year. Or any year. Sorry about that.

“Now — too late for you, but maybe not for the relatives that will try to spawn in later years — the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided the state must do more toward fixing its hundreds of culverts.

“The court affirmed a lower court decision ordering the state to replace its worst salmon-killing culverts that block passage upstream for the fish. A unanimous three-judge panel held that the culverts violate federal treaties signed with Washington tribes.

“When the 9th Circuit ruled for the feds and tribes on appeal, it scathingly rejected the state’s arguments and even its math. For one thing, the court found the state’s cost estimates — running to $1.9 billion — were “dramatically overstated.”

Click here for the full article.

 

Posted in environment | Comments Off on License to kill: How Washington may lose its right to wipe out salmon

Washington State Senior Citizens Foundation 2016 Annual Fall Conference

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Jim deMaine

From Barb Williams: The Washington State Senior Citizens Foundation will  hold their 2016 Annual Fall Conference and we would like to invite you to register.   The Conference will be held:

  • Thursday, October 27,2016
  • 8:00 A.M. to 3:30 P.M.
  • Hotel Murano, 1320 Broadway Plaza, Tacoma, WA 98402

This year we expect over 480 people will attend the 2016 Fall Conference. In addition, we will have up to 40 Exhibitors with resource information covering senior issues. The audience includes legislators, policy makers, civic Leaders, state, county and city employees, senior activists and providers of services for senior citizens and  the Conference will be covered by TVW.

The focus of the conference will cover topics such as:  Long Term Care, Guardianship, Medicare, Aging, Housing, Transportation and the Budget.  Governor Jay Inslee has been invited as well as  elected officials and state office holders.

Click here for more information.

Posted in Education, Social justice | Comments Off on Washington State Senior Citizens Foundation 2016 Annual Fall Conference

These Capitol Hill senior citizens are on a mission to find fun … and even empowerment

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Jim deMaine

Bernice Bloch, right, reacts as Manny Hernandez, center, their driver from The Summit, helps cut a s’mores bar at Hot Cakes Molten Chocolate Cakery in Seattle on Thursday. (Ellen M. Banner/The Seattle Times)

Sylvia Peterson sent in a comment and mentioned this interesting article from the Seattle Times. It sounds like not only a senior “meet-up” gathering for conversation and friendship but also scouting out and supporting local senior-friendly restaurants. I’m sure we’ve all had problems with walkers that won’t go up steps or fit into restrooms or fit into a booth. Almost equally annoying are the venues with loud music or lack of any sound abatement. Perhaps we should note for each other good “senior-meet-ups (SMUs)” nearby First Hill or an easy trolley/bus ride to Capitol Hill or the International District. Of course Skyline is great for our usual SMUs but it’s also good to go out. There are endless possibilities. I have a lawyer friend who meets with his Philosophy Group every Saturday morning at Third Place Books. Do you have ideas for local SMUs?

Posted in Essays, In the Neighborhood | 1 Comment

Overdoing it!

Posted on September 18, 2016 by Jim deMaine

pe160918.jpg

Posted in Humor | Comments Off on Overdoing it!