In October we were lucky enough to have Antonio Edwards, Jr. return to Tacoma for his spoken word performance of Speak No Evil. Homelessness is an ongoing problem here in the Pacific Northwest. Most of us don’t see it and so it grows. But, Antonio has dealt with those who have no home and sometimes […]
The Great Thanksgiving Listen – StoryCorps – Sharing Memories
I wish I had tried harder to convince people to record stories and recollections of their parents. Initially, I was suggesting that people record members of what Tom Brokaw called the Greatest Generation. Wikipedia: The Greatest Generation is a book by journalist Tom Brokaw which profiles those who grew up in the United States during […]
Beware of Talking Dolls That Listen
In the Suburban Times article “Roomba with a View, a Memory, and Data” I warned of the possibilities of stored data being shared with products from the Internet of Things (IoT) – “Current Roomba compatible internet devices like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant give you a small hint about the future and reasons to be […]
Bamboozling and Warming the Heart of Downtown Tacoma in the 1970s
It was a deathly quiet time in downtown Tacoma. There were more vacant lots than people. The Tacoma Mall had lured away most of the shops and those left were struggling. In 1969, the Downtown Tacoma Association was created to promote and develop retail trade in the City of Tacoma. During the same time I […]
The Big One is Coming – Our Category 9 Earthquake
The program for the November meeting of the Transportation Club of Tacoma (www.transportationcluboftacoma.org) was Major General Bret D. Daugherty. The general is the commander of the Washington National Guard, including both the Washington Army National Guard and the Washington Air National Guard. His program concerned the need to prepare for the probable horrendous earthquake we […]
My Chrysler Memories
On my piano I have a model of a 1955 two-door hardtop Chrysler Imperial. It was the closest model I could find to one of my favorite cars, a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker two-door hardtop with its 331 cubic inch Hemi V8. When my wife Peggy and I got married, I was driving the classic […]
Look Out for Truckloads of All Electric Semis
My son, Del has a commercial drivers license. He has a local route. He loves the job. He picks up loads of everything from shoes to tires. He maneuvers though traffic on both the freeway and back roads and expertly parks any semi in some teeny tiny places. He talks to dispatchers and the workers […]
Thoughts Have Wings
I used to read the novels of Louis L’Amour. If a movie based on one of his books airs or replays on cable, I will usually watch it. Again. And again. Not only does L’Amour tell a good story, with interesting characters, but usually there is good advice tucked into his pages as well. For […]
One of the Last Trains to Centralia with Puget Sound Views
The last Amtrak passenger trains traveling with Nisqually Delta, the Narrows, Salmon Beach, Northern Pacific’s Point Defiance tunnel, and Vashon Island views will run on December 17th. Beginning on the 18th, passengers will board at the new Amtrak station at Freighthouse Square in downtown Tacoma. Departures and arrivals will use the new Bypass Route which […]