Seems like a good time to remember this…
Scenes From the Neighborhood
A Future Without Mercedes Benz?
Well, not really. It’s unlikely the Mercedes Benz marque will disappear from the streets anytime soon. But Daimler AG, maker of Mercedes, Smart Car and Freightliner and Western Star trucks isn’t taking chances. The German-based company recently purchased GlobeSherpa, a company that built the ticket-purchasing app for Tri-Met, Portland’s bus and light-rail operator. Daimler folded GlobeSherpa into Moovel, its company that also develops related apps for public transportation providers. Blame it on urban millennials, who aren’t buying cars like they’re supposed to.
What You Don’t Know Can’t Hurt You.
The day of our peaceful transfer of power, one of the first changes was the disappearance of the Climate Change page on whitehouse.gov. (Also disappearing: LGBT, Civil Rights. Oh, and the button for users with disabilities including a White House video tour in sign language, an explanation of links on the site for viewers to access audible screen readers, closed captioning and other services.)
- Wildfires in the West are worse, much worse
- Artic ice is melting; sea levels are rising
- Oceans are becoming more acidic
- Plants and animals are migrating
- It’s getting hotter (yes, blizzards fit into the scientific model)
If we pretend it’s not there, it will go away.
How To Pack – without regret
During my recently ended traveling-for-work days I made many passages through the Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa. Alaska/Horizon Airlines offers once-a-day flights to Seattle, Portland, Orange County, San Diego and twice a day to Los Angeles. Now that I no longer need to go to Scottsdale Arizona, American Airlines is soon to begin service to Phoenix.
Alaska operates prop aircraft from Santa Rosa. A high percentage of travelers passing through security are clueless about the procedure. That’s not a problem, though. With six flights a day, a couple more in summer, and 76 passengers per flight, there’s not much anxiety and TSA people are very patient and accommodating. There is also a 100% chance your checked luggage will be inspected.
Condé Nast recently published a baggage handler’s tips for improving the chances of your belongings arriving in the same condition as when you packed them.
And just for fun: a musician’s paean to the “Worst Airline Ever.”
Engineered Grass and rBST
The damage done by the Bundy clowns wasn’t enough suffering for Malheur County. Now they’re dealing with longer-term damage caused by Scotts Miracle-Gro. Oregon’s billion-dollar grass seed industry is in peril. Who’s the villain? Besides Scotts, you can blame golfers, Japan, and Monsanto.