Monday

Today was my first day--weekday--of not having any kind of work responsibilities. That said, I did get paged about work, which was fine. Sort of. Well...

I run the risk of sitting inside reading blogs all day, so I made a plan to get out of the house and go grocery shopping. Twist: no car, only bike and trailer. I figured I can get two kids and their stuff in there, so I should be able to get groceries in, too. The grocery store is only three miles south, with some good hills along the way. And it went well. The groceries weigh about what Zoe & Elliott weigh, but they move around less and the milk does not accost the pasta the way Zoe does to her sister. So it's relatively safe.

Lots of people ready to smile at kids in the Burley, only to see two gallons of milk staring back at them. Not so cute.

I did a bunch of stuff at home, then headed out in the other direction to get blood drawn for my new job; must prove I'm immune to measles, mumps, rubella, etc, and documenting that I've been immunized isn't adequate. So I got another ride in. Sticky hot, by that time, though.

So the drive report says:

• No trips, no miles

Hopefully lots more days like this ahead.

More Hot

Unbelievably hot here today. We sat around on the "terrace" (i.e. our driveway, where we've set up a kid pool, some furniture, and a big umbrella. We watched the thermometer like idiots as the numbers climbed into the upper 90s, 100s, then got smart and left for the lake, where it was easily twenty degrees cooler. It's 85 degrees outside our front door right now with a nice breeze.

Tim O'*&%ing-Shea didn't bring his sweaty arse to the 'hood today to tidy his slum: $750 and counting.

Drive report for the weekend:

• Saturday: no trips, so no miles. Walked up Beacon Hill to Galaxie with Elliott on my back and a tired, smelly dog beside me;
• Today: two trips, about 15 miles. West Seattle Farmers Market this morning (biggest haul of the summer, had to go back to the bank for more money after two laps around the market), combined that trip with a dog/cat supply run. This evening's impromptu trip to the lake (by way of the grocery for a picnic dinner) was short and worth it.

Tomorrow I will begin in earnest doing absolutely nothing. I'll try at least to be organized about it.

Hot

The "official" weather says that it's 84 degrees outside right now. Outside our house, though, it's warmer than that. I snapped this shot of our home thermometer--outside temp on top. Since I took that picture ten minutes ago, it's warmer still: now up to 104 degrees. Yikes.

Worser and worser

In the spirit of neighborhood blogging...

It appears that our local slumlord, Tim O'Shea, is in trouble with the city...again. Back in February I wrote that ol' Tim was in it with the DPD Compliance Division.

In the interim, his properties have been settled by squatters and become happy little crack-houses, one of them burned (inadequately, one might say), they were relieved of all their salvageable metal, and have nearly disappeared into the surrounding vegetation.

Two days ago, that little white sign re-appeared on the door, this time outlining a bunch of things that Timothy J.C. and Elizabeth O'Shea (of 2350 North 59th Street, Seattle, WA 98103, as it says on the public posting) must do in order to meet the minimum standards the City of Seattle requires. While he gets his lazy, crack house-owning act together, he'll pay $150 every day for ten days, then $500 daily until he acts like a responsible adult.

As of right now he's $600 in the hole. That's sixty hours of labor he's thrown away, and there are more than enough able bodies waiting every morning down the street at Lowe's for an opportunity to help Tim set things right with the City and his deeply disappointed neighbors.

I heard hammering this morning, but it was my neighbor, Gloria, working on her house. Tim's compound is quiet.

Meter's running, Tim. Fix your property.

Drive report

For Friday, June 27:

• Drove one trip
• 7.1 miles, round trip home-clinic-home, dropped some stuff at Goodwill and brought back all that heavy stuff from clinic (it'll sit in my car until I toss it)

Now what? Do I have to drive at all before August, when I start my job? Most certainly, yes. And when I start work in Burien, almost ten miles one way, I'll have to start thinking differently about driving. Drive 55 max on the highway? Get a hybrid?

We'll see. For now, it's just summer and I don't want to think about it.

Family Medicine Blogs?

There don't seem to be many Family Medicine blogs. Why is that? It's kind of an exciting time for primary care and Family Medicine. The sky is falling, the system imploding (slowly, slowly), patients and employers who provide insurance are fed up, and as a result there are some great new models of care being developed to improve care.

But nobody is writing about them. Well, nobody is blogging about them.

What to do about that?

Blue skies

It seems like the dreary cold weather that hung over the Northwest has finally left us. I woke up to another clear blue sky this morning.

Driving report for yesterday, June 26:

• No trips, no miles (all bike)

Today looks like it will require a little driving. I have a load of stuff to clear out from my desk at Downtown Family Medicine. I suppose I could plunk that stuff into the Burley, but it's a lot of weight to have bouncing around. I'll add in a Goodwill run to consolidate trips. Errands this afternoon will be on bike.

It's my last day of residency!

Out of my car report

Driving report for June 25:

• 21 miles driven (to SeaTac and back)
• One car trip
  

I said I was going to begin my get out of my car effort with a car trip, and fair things being fair, I'll own those miles. I drove my mom and Jim to SeaTac with a side trip to Burien for a drive by of the clinic I'll be working at starting in August. Drove straight home, parked, and did the rest of my commute on my bike.

I rode from home in the south Central District to Fremont, then to REI, then back home. Among the things I got at REI were a new helmet I got at REI Outlet and had sent there (free shipping) and a helmet-mounted mirror, which was awkward to use, but seems like it will be helpful in the busy Seattle streets.

The weather could not have been better for biking.

I'll keep reporting on my driving behavior for a while, since it seems like it will help me own driving as a conscious choice (I almost always have a choice). I think it's useful to track number of trips, too, since many of the impromptu trips I make (for groceries, cat food, children's tylenol...) are both annoying and avoidable. If I can consolidate trips, I will.

Tomorrow appears well-suited to bicycling. I can take the girls to daycare in the Burley and zip past downtown traffic on my way home from clinic in the afternoon.

Out of my car

NYC Bicycle Commuter, 5th Ave. @ 58th St.
Originally uploaded by bicyclesonly

The mayor of Seattle has asked nicely for Seattleites to get out of our cars this summer, and with gas at $4.40 a gallon, I'm happy to do so. To this end, I'll be looking for every opportunity to ride my bike, walk, or take the bus (though the annual bus pass my residency gave me expired, and I'm unemployed for the summer).

Also, because I'm a nerd and a slave to data, I'll keep track of the miles I've driven. Might inspire me to drive less, or at least to have to justify my driving habit.

I'll begin this effort by driving my mom and Jim to the airport (they won't fit in the Burley trailer), then I'll bring the car home, park it, and take my bike out for the rest of the day.

Safe & Sound

Zoe has been taking swimming lessons again this summer at Safe & Sound, the very cool kids-should-be-safe-and-comfortable-and-happy-in-the-water swimming school in the basement of the China Harbor restaurant on Lake Union.

Her pre-school does transport for all the kids who want to go, which is fantastic. I've been to see her lessons twice in the last week, and it is so much fun to watch her learning how to swim. When I was her age, my parents tossed me in the water with a styrofoam bubble strapped to my back...but it wasn't so organized...or in a Chinese restaurant basement.

Seattle pedestrian right of way

I recall having heard one morning on KEXP that pedestrians have the right of way at all Seattle intersections (I was driving down Pine to downtown, tons of pedestrians, few signals) . It was a brief, throw-away comment swallowed immediately by the rhythm of some John-in-the-morning tune, but it's been stuck in my head ever since and I've wanted to check it out.

This afternoon, while I was reading about bicycle rights in Seattle, I hopped over to the "Pedestrian" section and learned that it's true: pedestrians have the right of way at Seattle intersections, not just marked crosswalks. Specifically...

WAC 132E-16-040

Pedestrians -- Right of way.

(1) Stopping for pedestrian. The operator of an approaching vehicle shall stop and remain stopped to allow a pedestrian to cross the roadway within a crosswalk unmarked or marked when the pedestrian is upon or within one lane of the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling or onto which it is turning.

So cars, stop for pedestrians at crosswalks (unmarked or marked), and pedestrians, watch out for cars that haven't read WAC 123E-16-040 or the "Hang Up and Drive" legislation to become law on July first of this year.

Lunacy...sunacy?

The sun has finally come back to seattle. Will it stay?