Nor'easter

When the wind blows from the northeast, chances are it is a frigid Canadian blast that hits Bellingham for a few days and makes you realize the next six months of forty degree drizzle are not so bad. I don’t ski anymore, so snow is not really my bag. And with the ice on the street, it’s not too conducive to biking. But other than the chance of the pipes freezing under the house in the crawl space, I can handle the cold. And for the pipes, I have plug-in heat tape on them, and periodically run the cold water during the night when I get up. Sort of like being on anchor watch on a sailboat.

Thankfully the weather is quite freaky and dramatic up here, otherwise I would probably never have a whole lot to write about. The flag on the picture above usually indicates a pretty cold day is ahead when you can see it blowing stiffly coming from the Fraser Valley. In the background is Mt. Baker. And although the temperature is not too cold, the wind is frigid and relentless.

Utility bills be damned, I'm turning the heat up. Last year's high electric and gas bills were around $110 and $60, respectively. This year will probably be a bit more, although they're nowhere near as high as the bills were back east.

Wow

I do not know what evoked that outburst on yesterday's rant, but when I write I am caught in the moment. I could edit the post but I will leave it as is.

The party last night turned quite interested as many of the attendees were snowed in and many stayed, while many took cabs home and left their cars. For a piddly 3-4" snowstorm, the roads were icy and treacherous. This same scenario seems to happen every winter: Snow over icy roads that lasts from a few hours to a few days. The snow and ice from this storm will probably last through possibly mid-week, as the high temps will hover below freezing for a few days. But the party was a blast and I was glad to meet a wonderful group of people and today paid for it through my lack of sleep.

And one of the benefits of the storm was finding a bus route that was direct to a place I usually bike to in Happy Valley. I prefer biking there but will be taking the great bus service while the roads remain crummy (Bellingham has no snow removal equipment). And talk about punctuality: Today the outbound left exactly on time, while the returning bus was only two minutes late.
Oh, and the picture is from yesterday's Jingle Bell Run through downtown.

Hedge

The glorious wheels of capitalism keep turning as the neoliberal economists tout how perfect the work would be in a regulatory anarchy where the "invisible hand" (probably the most misused phrase in history - some say Adam Smith possibly meant this to be taken tongue-in-cheek relative to the rest of his rigid text, although this phrase is widely quoted) once again is left to control the markets of free will. Things work smothly in a perfect work, but unfortunately there are such factors as greed, deceit, corruptness and all the other evil things that money seems to nurture in many people.

I speak of Bernie Madoff, a filthy businessman that basically screwed over everyone and anyone that ever entrusted their investments with the hedge fund he managed. And not just capitalists; many of the people were invested in his hedge fund were foundations or non-profits in search of above-market returns but willing to forego basically any accountability requirements or regulatory oversights. The free market once again stumbles.

Furthermore, it is so sad that sad that people such as Madoff will only go to medium security prison for less than twenty years when they've destroyed the lives of thousands. I guess white-collar crime does pay. I've never been that satisfied by material things enough to perform such heinous acts as those of Bernie Madoff. When layers of regulation are added to our already overwhelming overburdened regulatory system, we will have people like him to thank.

Sorry about the rant, it's just that scum like him make me sick. Time to get ready to go to a party tonight.

Life

Life is precious. Today a colleague of mine was injured rather severely in an incident down in Seattle of which I've been able to garner few details. More although information trickle in here and there. It is so shocking and I hope my friend fares well and today my thoughts of him are never very far off.

Oddly enough it was twenty years ago that I'd spent two months in the hospital due to a car accident that should have killed me (see pic). It is unfortunate that it takes situations like this make me realize how fragile life is and that every day is a gift.

On my to the cafe to work today, the snow has reached the low mountains around Bellingham, probably 2,000 feet or so. This weekend is where the cold weather blows in from the Fraser Valley and the wind dips into the teens. This is the time of year when you don your complete thermal underwear (tops and bottoms) for days until the spell breaks. Although the highs in the twenties and lows in the teens doesn't really seem cold, the moisture seems to chill you to the bone. And the weather here is always something to be talked about.

Well it's 3:20 and daylight is fading, so I should get home. I forgot how early it gets dark and I left my cycle light at home.

Pass

The most exciting thing I did today was put about a hundred asset tags on everything my company owns. But at least I was able to drive through Alger Pass (some call it a pass) through the ethereal mountains disappearing into the low clouds. Actually I was the passenger (in an old 240D running biodiesel) which is even better.

Interstate Five runs through this cut in the hills. This road, SR9 and SR11 are the only three that attach Whatcom County to the rest of the United States. All that lie to the north are open fields. And Canada.

Not much more to say. other than this picture is of the Taylor Street Dock last summer. Time to fall asleep watching a movie, something I have not done in a long time.

Night

Sometimes when I ride. I think of things I want to write once I get in front of my computer. Tonight was one such night that I really thought of nothing except how wonderful the fine drizzle felt on my face.

I was coming home from my moonlighting gig at eleven realizing how much tremendous fun I have selling tobacco, alcohol and processed food to college kids while listening to loud classic jazz. This week the students are in the midst of finals at Western. The running joke is that you need a graduate degree to work at our convenience store, as I have my MBA and my colleague has a Masters in German Literature. But jobs (even menial ones such as convenience store clerks) are quite hard to come by in Bellingham.

Ans oddly enough, earlier in the day I met with a woman that I am handing off other clients of mine as I am fully concentrating my energy on the biodiesel company. But being a clerk is quite the escape, although someday my day job will become all engrossing and the evenings of living amoung the hipsters will be a fond memory. But I am glad that I realize in the moment what fun I'm having (some of the highs in my life) versus having to look back upon them at some point in the future and say "geeze, 2008 was a pretty fun year." There are many rough patches, but generally the road is good.

Housing

Here is a picture of more soulless condo boxes sure to cash in on this wonderful housing market in Bellngham. Problem is, the market is flooded with condominiums, so these will most likely be rental units. And this generic crap will be so much nicer to look at versus the views of Bellingham Bay that used to be.

If the realtor that shows these places is smart, they'll make sure one of the frequent freight or passenger trains isn't signaling at the crossing immediately below. Their horrns wake me up on occassion at the F Street and Roeder, and that's almost a mile away. The nightly train whistle of the 3am northbound should be pleasant.

And I heard the rental market is still pricey here, as the lending is tight (depending on who you ask), and people are still asking way too much for houses. People don't understand that if a house is not selling at market, it's because it's not at market, it's above market. In a very simplistic sense, if if was priced at market, it would have a buyer and be sold within a reasonable time, not ten-to-twenty months out as the local inventory versus sales indicates.

But I was looking on zillow (for what that web site is worth) and saw that my house has appreciated roughly 3% since I bought it. Not bad in this otherwise dismal market. And if my payment trend continues, I'll have it paid off in ten years. Frugality pays. And what they call a starter home is what I hope to be carried out of at room temperature in roughly forty years.

And then in ten years I'll hopefully use it to generate some rental income and take a few years off to travel. I think I will have earned it by then. If I still have my mind, that is: the stress of working with emerging companies can be both exhilarating and exhausting. But I love it. I don't know why. Strange.