The best beer I ever had

Portland, Oregon

The year was 1992. I was attending MLC in NW Portland and one day me and a buddy took a tour of the Blitz Weinhard brewery on West Burnside. It was like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for the adolescent male. The shining steel vats that held the malts dazzled our eyes. We savored the pungent aroma of the hops as it assailed our nostrils. All the secrets that went into the crafting of the delicious nectar we loved were revealed! And then! Then, a creaking sound like some mischievous yet benevolent banshee called out to us. We turned to see two large oaken doors swing wide to reveal an inner sanctum. Into the shadows we stared. Could it be? Yes it could! The friendly staff beckoned us into the tasting room! The dark stain of the polished fir bar adorned with brass rails hid the spoils of the room like a pirate's chest overflowing with gold, but the treasure it offered was golden hops tailored to a tasty perfection! We had our pick of brews to sample. Henry's classic? Henry's Dark? What'll it be? Asked the bartender. We answered in the manliest voices we could muster....... Blitz, please.

We may have entered the brewery that day as boys, but when the exit doors opened onto West Burnside Street to reveal a rare glimpse of pacific northwest sunshine, we did not squint. We did not shy away from the light. We proudly strolled out those doors with our heads held high. We emerged as men!

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Jantzen beach Hayden island delta park yellow max

Jantzen beach on and off ramps have always seemed sketchy to me.. Portland could take away the jantzen beach exits by building a new bridge from delta park to Hayden island. Eliminating the need to use I-5 to get to jantzen beach. Washington drivers could use the next exit and double back. Also Portland could extend the yellow line max to jantzen beach while they're at it. Make it so! http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2016/06/deadly_crash_closes_i-5_southb.html#incart_river_mobile_home

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Once more with feeling

Uber in Portland from a cabbie's perspective.

Cabs have been regulated by the city of portland for decades. They told us how many cabs we could have. How much we could charge. How we had to cover the rural areas. How many of our cabs had to be wheelchair accessible.

All we asked is that the rideshare companies Uber and Lyft be regulated too.

But Dan Saltzman, Steve Novick, and Charlie Hales voted to let them in. Amanda Fritz and Nick Fish voted against them.

Novick and Hales had a meeting with the Uber lobbyist and 'forgot' to put it on the public record.

Then they said 'This kind of thing should never happen again' Which basically meant to me that it was going to happen again. A very half hearted apology.

Now fast forward a year or two, There is new evidence that Uber intentionally created software to skirt Portland's regulations before they were approved.

Uber does not even make money. They are funded by billions of dollars in venture capital. Portland Cab companies do not have that luxury, we have to compete and prove it every night and find a way to be profitable.

Is it really fair for us to have to compete with these huge companies?

We basically got rid of Hales and Novick, Hales didn't run for reelection and Novick lost, the only reason Saltzman is still there is probably because he hasn't had to run for reelection since the Uber vote.

Now is it really fair for him to investigate Uber?

Should he be in charge of transportation at all? He obviously favors Uber.

Ted Wheeler, we voted for change, please don't wait for all the cab companies in Portland to go out of business before acting, we are hoping for you to help us.

Again we don't want any special favors, we only ask that our representatives do their job and regulate the rideshares like they always have the taxi companies.

Thank you for reading.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/technology/uber-greyball-program-evade-authorities.html?_r=1

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Pacific Northwest Hack #1

Rainy spring/winter tip: Keep a pair of shades inside your toque, every once in a while the sun will appear and you will want them. When you do, they'll be nice and dry and ready to go. Even though the winter sun is infrequent, when it does break out it can hit you at an angle that can cause extreme glare especially when driving. Extra points for a really ugly colored toque for other people to spot you.

Categories/Tags: 99826

whirligig blazers fan art attempt #3

Categories/Tags: 99829 99830 99827 99826 99836 Sports Trailblazers Blazers 99824

Bertha Tunneling machine STP Seattle Tunnel Project

Congrats to Big Bertha for making it through and finishing the tunnel in Seattle, an awesome feat of engineering. Yes it was delayed but it made it. Very disappointed that this machine won't be reused somehow though

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/About/FollowBertha

Categories/Tags: Transportation Seattle Tunnel 99826 99825 

Sellwood construction

They've done a great job to keep the bridge mostly open while working. Quite a feat! 

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Biketown bike share

Nice 4 spd cruiser bike. No chain or belt not really sure how the drivetrain works actually . Comfortable. You probably aren't winning any races with this but it's fast enough.

Categories/Tags: 99824 99825 99826 cycling transportation pdx portland 

The numbers only work for the Billionaires (Uber and Lyft)

Uber and Lyft:

I've never understood how you can sign up an unlimited amount of drivers when there is only a limited amount of business.

Imagine a restaurant where they have an unlimited number of waiters, Ya you're going to get good service but the waiters aren't going to be able to make a living.

It looks like Uber is headed for a dead end. At some point people are going to wise up and stop signing up to drive for them. Or as their current drivers go bankrupt they will be unable to purchase new cars.

Don't get me wrong, taxi drivers have gotten the shaft for a long time, they drive long hours, usually as independent contractors, with no benefits.

The company I drive for treats their drivers pretty well, but I've heard horror stories from other companies in town. They fine their own drivers when they fail to pick up a customer, and the driver has no way to prove whether or not they actually did anything wrong.

So the cab driver would turn around and take it out on a customer by taking them the long way and running up the meter at every opportunity. Of course this pissed the customers off and that's one of the reasons Uber and Lyft have been successful.

But now there's a crunch. The cab driver can't control how much they charge, and they can't run up the meter, so they're going bankrupt.

Of course all of the personal bankruptcies won't bother the guys like Kalanick that have already gotten rich off the whole thing. Even if Uber fails they will still be filthy rich.

It's almost criminal, but that's just how capitalism works. That's why we need government regulations, to protect the little guy from being crushed by the billionaires.

I'm not trying to complain, I expect very little from the government. Just trying to explain things to people that might be interested.

I'm getting out of the cab game, maybe I'll see you at the drive-thru

Did you want fries with that?

http://katu.com/news/auto-matters/drivers-rebel-against-ubers-price-cutting-quest-for-growth-03-03-2017

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Happy 30th to Portlandia (it's a statue not a show)

Ode to Portlandia

Tucked away amongst the trees and boulevards

You reach out to welcome us

Just looking at you out on the water gives me the chills

Why did we hide you away in the city ?

You obviously belong on the waterfront

You are the second largest repoussé in the U.S.

Yes, the Statue of Liberty is bigger

but you are my (made in) American girl

One day I hope you are freed from your urban prison

and put on display on the Willamette so we can look at you

Then all of the people will come to know

You are a beautiful sculpture

Not just a comedy show

Wiki

Portlandia trivia

Category/ tags Portland 99826

gimp/ learning fonts and outlines for memes

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Portland Oregon Transportation Fails (and Vancouver)

Portland Oregon is sometimes viewed as a transportation model for other cities because of our light rail, buses, and bike lanes.
But in the last ten years or so we have had nothing but transportation failures.
1. The Tram (to nowhere) came in almost four times over budget, the operating costs are almost twice estimated, and the fare is almost twice estimated. AND they said you would be able to ride it with your Tri-Met bus/train transfer. YOU CAN’T.

2. Fareless Square killed. Portland had a fareless square where anyone could ride buses and trains downtown for free. It set us apart from other cities and was ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS ABOUT PORTLAND. It is now gone, first replaced by the Free Rail Zone in 2010 then eliminated entirely.

3. Tri-Met has cut back service and at the same time raised fares. THESE THINGS SHOULD NEVER BE DONE SIMULTANEOUSLY. If you need more money OK, if you need to cut service OK, but how can you do both at the same time? You should see the results of one on your budget before doing the other. Always wondered how reducing service and raising rates at the same time would translate to other businesses. This is how tri-met treats their customers they do it because they have no competition so they can do whatever they want. It should be noted that Tri-Met board members DO NOT RIDE TRI-MET!

4. Portland Streetcar. This should be a success once the PMLR bridge, aka Tilikum Crossing, is finished, but they should have waited until the Streetcar connection to OMSI was finished before eliminating the Free Rail Zone. Also enormous delays and cost overruns due to the city choosing a contractor to build the streetcars that HAD NEVER BUILT STREETCARS BEFORE.

5. The complete and total failure of the CRC , an ill-concieved bridge between Oregon and Washington. It failed mostly because of opposition to Light Rail and tolling. 175 Million spent on a BRIDGE THAT WILL NEVER BE BUILT . This is a tough issue. To receive federal funding we need to put the Light Rail through, but Vancouver WA doesn’t want it. Also, if you toll one bridge people will just drive to the other. You can’t toll the I-205 unless you make improvements to it in some way, so the answer could be to eventually toll both bridges, and also put light rail through to Vancouver on both bridges at the same time. Since this will probably be opposed by Vancouverites, Portland should concentrate on its own problems, and the first thing they should do is extend MAX to Jantzen Beach / Hayden Island by building a small bridge that would also allow auto access to Hayden Island from Portland without having to take I-5. Can we recycle a portion of the CRC plan to do this? Salvaging some of the wasted taxpayer money? It seems like they should be able to use one of these options. see also a great video on the CSA.

the MAX project to Jantzen Beach could be combined with fixing the rail bridges to Vancouver WA, and since they don’t want light rail maybe we could just run a commuter train similar to the WES on Portland’s west side on the existing rail lines.
Hopefully we can learn from the failure of the Columbia River Crossing and design a smarter, dare I say prettier bridge to connect Oregon and Washington, and eliminate the ONLY STOPLIGHT on I-5 between Canada and Mexico.
It might be a good thing this project failed, because the bridge was designed too low for river traffic and too high for pearson air field air traffic
It seems silly to design a 3 billion dollar bridge around a tiny airport in the first place. And to give Pearson field traffic which is mostly recreational priority over billions of dollars worth of commercial river traffic business seems backward. If Vancouver wants a new bridge they should shut down Pearson, and accept the tolling and Light Rail so we can build a bridge. They can fly out of Troutdale, further from metropolitan areas. Remember Portland had to move its airport once too
Or we can just do nothing, and hope we don’t get any earthquakes.
CATEGORY/TAGS Portland Transport 99825 99826

Autonomous cars, self driving 'smart' cars' (implementation)

edit: update: this video backs up my belief that self-driving cars and people shouldn't mix.. this warehouse has self-driving bots to move stuff around and they even do it in a 'human exclusion zone' bots and humans aren't going to really mix well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gy5tYVR-28

First of all, can we stop with the autonomous vehicles and the self-driving car? It's too hard to say, too many syllables etc...

If a phone with a computer is a smartphone then a car with a computer is a 'smart' car. Henceforth in this blog I will refer to these cars as such.

This is how I believe smart cars should be phased into our lives, and I will explain why.

Most people are not really ready for smart cars, and the streets and traffic systems we have are not really ready for them either.

The biggest problem is mixing the smart cars into regular traffic with human drivers. Smart cars cannot make eye contact or otherwise communicate with other drivers, other drivers can't always tell a smart car when they see one. A car being driven by a computer should be easily recognized as such.

So, mixing them into regular traffic. This might sound odd, but LET'S NOT DO IT. Bear with me a moment and I'll explain.

The smart cars could be phased in with limited trials in limited zones during limited times. During these times and in these zones, regular human driven cars would be prohibited. Smart cars would be limited to low speeds in pedestrian zones to familiarize people with the technology and insure safety. THE SMART CARS WOULD GIVE FREE RIDES TO PEOPLE IN THESE ZONES/ DURING THESE TIMES. This would further ingratiate people to the smart car.

After trial periods and safety/familiarity is established, the zones and times could be expanded. Also the speed limits could be increased.

The final implementation would be to allow the smart cars onto freeways IN LANES SIMILAR TO CARPOOL LANES SEPARATE FROM OTHER HUMAN DRIVERS. The ROAD WOULD BE A SMART ROAD, able to communicate with vehicles on it and ensure they are operating under computer control and operating safely. If a human driver had a compatible car, they could push a button and use these lanes... similar to toll lanes. These lanes would work wonderfully because all the cars would be going the same speed, they could be coordinated by computer to maximize speed and space, eliminating gridlock and stop and go driving that currently plagues our freeways.

Eventually, as people see the benefits of the technology and purchase new vehicles, the smart lanes/ smart freeways could be expanded. I believe in 10-20 years it may not be possible to use an interstate freeway without such a vehicle, much like airbags and seat belts are mandatory today.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Portland's mayor recently said he wanted to implement self-driving cars, so I thought it was time to put these ideas out there. I have driven in Portland as a cabbie for 10 years so this comes from a place of some knowledge.

Currently Portland has a policy that prohibits vehicles in Old Town on Friday and Saturday nights so pedestrians can safely club hop without worrying about getting run over.. this would be a perfect time and place to test these self driving cars. Google, Tesla, Apple, or Uber could test their vehicles if they are willing to limit their speed and give free rides in that limited zone.

Again, as the technology is proven safe and people become more used to the idea of the autonomous car, the zones and speeds could be increased/expanded.

Another great place to test these vehicles would be in gated communities and or senior living areas, Charbonneau in Wilsonville comes to mind. It's an area that allows golf carts to use the roads.. the autonomous cars, operating at low speeds, could easily mix into this kind of community and win over some of the people that are most dubious of this technology.

At first, these trials would be limited to certain times of day on certain days, until people accept the technology. When they do, and I believe they will when it's proven that computer driven cars are safer than human driven ones, the times and zones can be expanded.

I do NOT believe that people in general or our roads are ready for self driven smart cars to mix into regular traffic and use our freeways.

IF we want to put these cars on the freeway we should construct a 'smartcarpool' lane, physically separated by dividers, that allows these cars to use the freeway without mixing with other cars. A commuter could approach the smartcarpool lane (let's say in Portland), touch a button that would relinquish control of their vehicle, and regain control of the vehicle when they arrived in the suburb they are driving to (Vancouver, Hillsboro, Gresham, etc...)

Tags/Categories: 99824 99825 99826 99836 99840

Letter to the new mayor and council; Portland needs an identity

Open letter to the new mayor and council in Portland: Dan Saltzman, Ted Wheeler, Chloe Eudaly, Amanda Fritz, and Nick Fish.

From a lifelong Portlander and cab driver since 2007.

Portland has no identity. Seattle has the space needle, the fish market, Cleveland has the rock and roll hall of fame and LeBron James. San Francisco has the bay and the golden gate. LA has the Hollywood sign and the walk of fame. Starting to get my drift? What do you think of when you hear Portland? Voodoo Donuts? Rain? A tram that doctors ride to the hospital twice a day? That's not an identity.

So here's some of my proposals to give it one, in somewhat order of importance. We need to think big.

1. Portlandia Statue needs to be moved to the waterfront, somewhere people can see it. This statue is our greatest symbol, it is the largest statue of it's kind made in america. The Statue of Liberty is the largest statue of it's kind in The States, but it was made in France. Such a unique icon should not be hidden away on the bus mall, obscured by trees, on top of a cruddy building that needs renovation or rebuilding anyways. Also, possibly renegotiate the contract with the artist to be less restrictive so we can sell little Portlandias to the tourists.

2. Bring back fareless square and EXPAND IT. Build parking garages all around the edges and charge for parking. If someone is willing to park their car their parking stub will act as their bus/MAX fare or they will just be in fareless square and not need one. If possible, make all Tri-met free. The money you will save on scrapping all the electronic fare-vending machines will go a long way towards paying the difference in money you make off of fares. Also, improved public transit will get people out of cars, reducing congestion and saving buses money on fuel. The drivers won't have to waste fuel idling while checking fares/taking money on the bus. And the fare-checkers won't have to shake down poor people for fares they can't afford. Instead make them all transportation ambassadors, helping people navigate the system. It's a win/win/win/win/win.

3. Redo the rose quarter transit station. It's terrible. I used to ride the max or bus into north portland. I could ride the yellow line or the 4 or the 35, AND THEY ALL STOPPED IN DIFFERENT PLACES. If I waited at one stop and saw the other bus/train arrive, I had to run across the street risking life and limb to try and catch it. I think the best way is to basically cap it so people drive over it, not through it. Maybe like a Grand Central Station or Union Station Eastside? Could the Memorial Coliseum become an awesome indoor transit station?

4. Since Vancouver and Washington have repeatedly voted down the MAX and funding for a new 1-5 bridge, start doing other things we don't need their help for. Rebuild the Amtrak bridge reducing 95% of the I-5 bridge lifts and put in a WES-like commuter train to Vancouver, possibly with a stop in St. Johns. The track could be doubled at some point to allow trains to pass each other i.e.; the express train could pass freight or non-express trains. Union Station to the 'couv in 15 minutes! Also, extend the Yellow line MAX at least to Jantzen beach with a train/auto bridge. This would allow us to close the very dangerous on/off ramps from I-5 to Jantzen Beach. Washington drivers would just have to exit one exit south and come back on the new bridge. This would allow a huge amount of development in Jantzen Beach without having to wait for a new I-5 bridge.

This idea is partly from the CSA to the CRC video 

(common sense alternative to the Columbia river Crossing bridge) 

5. Omsi could be expanded. We finally have a bridge/max /streetcar that goes there, lets make it something to write home about! Put Portlandia over here?

6. Consider a massive waterfront expansion/reclamation on the eastside and/or inner NW Portland. This could include a massive tunnel to bury some of the freeway that currently takes up all of that great real estate. Seattle's Bertha tunneler should be available soon, can we use it for a major project here? It's already proven to work and very close by! A Tunnel in NW would allow a park annexation from Forest Park all the way to the river! At least in some places.

Eastside tunnel as proposed by Sam Adams link

7. As a cab driver, I have spent many hours driving down roads named after ferries. Boones Ferry road and Taylor's ferry road are two common ones. What happened to the ferries? Why not restore a couple old ferries and bring them back as tourist attractions? They could actually be used for commuting during the week and tourist trips on weekends! How great would it be to see all of Portland from the water? Possible stops could be West Linn, Lake Oswego, Milwaukee, Sellwood, Omsi, Waterfront Park, Forest Park/Terminal 1, St. Johns? Epic Portland history brought back to life!

8. Do something with the tram on weekends? Maybe an observation deck and a gift shop up top? Would be great way to see the city at night and utilize the tram more than just monday thru friday rush hour.

Imagine coming into Portland on a train from Seattle and seeing Portlandia and a Forest Park entrance on your way in, or coming in on a ferry or boat and seeing Portlandia, it would be awesome from that angle.

Portland is known somewhat as a biketown, but actually we have very few bike lanes that are safe and divided from traffic like they have in Amsterdam or Copenhagen (with their own dedicated traffic signal phases) A two-way divided bike highway right down the middle of Burnside, from the zoo on the west side to where the MAX joins Burnside in the East? If the MAX can go right down the middle of a road why not a bike lane?

Finish the 40 mile loop that was first planned a century ago? Connecting marine drive to the springwater corridor? Why can't we finish a simple bike loop? Or at least finish the Fairview Gresham trail, connecting Marine Drive and the Springwater corridor?

bikeportland.org link to the springwater expansion 40 mile loop completion

If you're reading this and think it has some good ideas, please repost it to the city council and/or mayor.

If you're the city council or the mayor, I would consider a position as a consultant if offered. Thank you for reading. Ara Weller

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