One Size Fits All

I took the picture below on April 6th, the day after Philly Cleanup. I wanted to send a message to the mayor saying something like, you forgot this place. The location is across from a bunch of chain strip-mall stores (Home Depot, Walmart, etc). The amount trash was/is unbelievable. Its mainly plastic, but there were also furniture, carpets, electronic goods that looked like new except it was ruined because of exposure to rain/sun. One homeless guy was attempting to sell some of the goods by opening up a store front on the road’s divider. Also visible are train tracks which aren’t used anymore. I don’t why they aren’t used because it would solve so many of the city’s problems at once if they were. But, I live in a city that tends to cater exclusively to car-drivers. And of course the wealthy…which brings me to my second picture.

The picture below is of a mural in one of the wealthier neighborhoods. I like art that is beautiful and is accessible to everyone without an admission price or membership - which is one reason I like street art alot (especially legal street art). But this area is spotless. There are garbage bins everywhere and the townwatch people are big busy bodies. I don’t have any grand conclusions…but I wish this city was a bit cleaner. Everywhere.

 I went riding yesterday despite a weather forecast that promised thunderstorms. I took pictures of my favorite parts of the ride. It rained at night after I fell asleep.

Starting out, this is next to west river drive (on the left) with the ominious clouds above and the Schuylkill River on the right. The roads aren’t blocked, but there weren’t many cars out at noon.

Now I’m on west river drive because car access is blocked on weekends until 5PM. So its paradise for bikers and other people. Except, most people stay on Kelly (or the eastern side of the river). The ominous clouds have gone away.

While I was taking the above picture, the geese here were looking at me curiously, or ignoring me. 

Now I’m on Forbidden Drive. Below is a portion of Wissahickon Creek.

This is the bike trail next to the creek. It was also mostly empty.

This is further north near Wissahickon Ave. I could hear the cars on the street nearby, but it was still pretty quiet.

Inspired by Xin Lu, here are 5 reasons I like public transit, and 5 reasons I dislike public transit:

5 reasons I like public transit
1. I can catch up on sleep
2. I can do a lot of reading
3. Its free (100% paid for by employer)
4. Safer
5. Entertainment (I think Philadelphia is the only city that has such a high ratio of loonies to sane people. I count myself as a sane person)

5 reasons I dislike public transit
1. No control on time it take to get somewhere
2. Motion sickness
3. People who take up more than their allotted space (determined by me) of one seat with their ass.
4. Smell of pee
5. The fact that there is no discrimination against loud people

The local city paper had a good article about a city dump in Puerto Vallarata, "a beguiling tourist trap on Mexico’s Pacific coast". An excerpt:

Though it’s not a perspective that you’ll want to savor. The locals call this place "La Basura," meaning literally, "the sweepings," for it is a mountain made of trash. It is the city dump. And as a connoisseur of cities and their refuse, I’ve come to discover what it’s made of. From here, you can survey some of this mountain’s sources. Its garbage arrives from Puerto Vallarta’s old city, where American expats live easily and cheaply — feasting on dividends from former corporate careers. Its trash comes from the rising hotel district, whose walled enclaves swell with honeymooners, and which periodically explodes with kids on spring break. Its garbage comes from the denizens of big cruise ships, who swarm the city for silver bracelets, cheap booze and pricey Viagra — available without a prescription.

Edit: I found this to be very amusing.  You know…ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) comes down…but doesn’t really. But the arm depicted in the above parking lot does come down (one almost smashed my head a few days back). One of my future goals is to be a humorous writer and this will take alot of work, because things that I find hilarious tends to confuse most people.

Santa is coming! And after getting tired of his complaining reindeer, he is now delivering gifts on a motorbike.

I spent some time with the old folks yesterday. It had been a while since I’ve been in a car so I was more or less terrified of traveling along the street that is home to some of the deadliest intersections in the country. But, I survived and live to tell the tale…

For one, I was amazed at the conversation. I know I mentioned that I had nothing in common with them, but I spent three hours listening to conversations about driving: driving on this street to avoid traffic cameras (which save lives), driving on that street to avoid the traffic, driving on this other street because people who turn left on this intersection are faster than people who turn left on this other intersection. That was the topic: driving. Mind numbing doesn’t even begin to describe the conversation. Of course, when I agreed to hang out with the old folks, I was not thinking clearly. I had finals, papers, and was losing hair due to stress. Next year, I am opting out of this craziness.

I should add to my growing list of pet peeves that if there is anything I really despise as a conversation topic its anything related to driving. Or parking.

After the event I took the bus home and along the stretch of Roosevelt Blvd, its nothing short of butt ugly. Actually, its uglier. There are car dealerships, strip malls, wide streets that are uncrossable on foot, parking lots, strip malls, parking lots. And everything has been made flat. Bulldozed into some sort of conformity that is just disgusting to look at. And the worst part is that its within the city limits, its not the suburbs.

So in the moments when I am struck by such ugliness I started reflecting on the fact that I live in a bubble. In my bubble everyone eats organic food, more or less in season and buys fair trade coffee and rides their bicycle. In the old folks’ world, organic food is a scam to get one to spend more money on food. I’ve come to the conclusion that if I don’t spend money on food what else should I spend it on? Consumer goods? I’m sure consumer goods will cure diseases one day. Not the healthy food.

I purchased a whole chicken (and some extra breast meat) a few months ago and it cost about $30. The person selling it looked nervous when I asked the price. I thought it was a fair price. First there was the cost of the egg, then the feeding and caring, then the killing of the bird, cleaning up the mess, removing the feathers and inner organs. That is time. Isn’t time money? I read a long article yesterday that asks these sort of questions and provides some answers.

I remember feeling all happy and positive about the state of the world over the last few trips to the farmers’ market, but now I am wondering if we’re all doomed. DOOMED!!!

Every year during the winter, I slip and fall on a icy sidewalk. Usually this occurs later in the season.

This year, not only did I slip, fall and land on both knees after the first snow (flurry) fall, but it happened on a wet SEPTA bus. I hope this doesn’t result in an expensive surgery 20 years from now.

Why are there more crazy men than women riding SEPTA? I think I’ve seen one crazy woman riding SEPTA in all the years I’ve been here.

*warning* negative post ahead
(more…)

Oh brother are you gonna leave me wasting away
On the streets of Philadelphia
- Bruce Springsteen’s Streets of Philadelphia

The picture above shows a very common sight in my neighborhood: litter. For whatever reason, there are some people who live near me that think that the streets of Philadelphia is a trash bin. Complaining to the Department of Streets resulted in me getting bumped from Department of Its-not-our-responsibility to the Department of Its-Not-our-Responsibility-Either. And walking amongst trash strewn all over the places can get a person down. So there is a group of us litter haters who have decided that we will pick up the trash that others leave on the Streets of Philadelphia. This is problematic for me in one regard: it interferes with my 90% emission reduction project - it adds to the garbage I have to take out. Which is annoying because I finally have managed to get it down to about 2 lbs/week (most of it is now composted).

Anyway, but now I don’t have to feel so bad because of #6 on this list: “Act like a considerate citizen of the world, and you’ll boost your self-esteem.” After picking up everyone’s litter over the weekend on my little street my husband and I kept patting ourselves on the back over how beautiful we singlehandedly had made our street look. So the trash pickup did give us a bit of a happiness boost. However…I doubt picking up chicken bones (also something that is frequently found littered everywhere) would result in that same boost. Perhaps this is how we start to realize the benefits of having stray cats and miscellaneous rodents that inhabit our fine neighborhood.

Image credit
After work, my husband and I met up at the Reading Terminal Market. I’ve been wanting to eat more and more local foods, and I had other plans for the weekend, so I wanted to get some shopping done today. Last weekend when I went to the wine store to look for local wine, I didn’t find any. I already was aware of Blue Mountain Wine, a vineyard in Pennsylvania (I didn’t know grapes could grow in this weather either), and was hoping to get some at the State owned wine store. I guess PA’s goofy liquor laws play some role in this, but the only “local” wine was from California.

So today I stopped by Blue Mountain’s store front at the Reading Terminal Market and picked up two bottles of wine. They were reasonably priced and the Cabernet sauvignon that I popped open is very good.

Then we stopped by the Fair Food farm stand and picked up all sort of interesting goodies. The staff was nice and treated the food with respect (unlike some clerks around here). They even knew how to pack the food well. What a nice place. I will be going back.

I enrolled in Peco’s Wind Energy Program. Below is an excerpt from the confirmation email I received. I hope this decision doesn’t kill too many migratory birds that aren’t pigeons.

Thank you for choosing PECO WIND energy!
Your commitment to purchase PECO WIND energy will help create a healthier environment by reducing the need for electricity produced from other sources. As more people sign up, more wind farms will be built in Pennsylvania. This means cleaner air and water, and a more secure energy future for everyone!

PECO WIND energy is a product of PECO and is supplied by Community Energy, Inc.

This e-mail serves as our receipt of your enrollment request. We will send an official confirmation of your enrollment by U.S. Mail within ten business days.

Thanks again for your interest and we look forward to your participation in the PECO WIND program! If you have any questions about the program, please call us at 1-866-WIND-321 or visit us on the Web at www.pecowind.com.

Sincerely,

PECO and Community Energy

I just learned about walk score:

What is Walk Score?

Walk Score helps people find walkable places to live. Walk Score calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc.

My current walk score was 86/100 which means:

70 - 90 = Very Walkable: It’s possible to get by without owning a car.

However they didn’t pick up the large Acme grocery store or the various asian markets near by.
There are also many restaurants in my neighborhood: Mexican, Vietnamese, Thai, Italian, American, etc. that were not picked up. It picked up one of the Ritz movie theatres, but not the Whole Foods which is closer.It did pick up all the library branches. And since its a mod on google maps, I am assuming the reason many of these places were not mentioned was because google didn’t pick it up.

My previous apartment scored 96/100. And it was indeed the most convenient place I’ve ever lived in.

via Cycling Sasquatch

I’ve been trying to figure out my gasoline usage for the 90% emission reduction project. I use Septa’s bus roughly 3 time a week. For easier math, I assumed that when I do switch to working full time I will ride Septa’s buses for a total distance of 31.25 miles per week. I have been trying to figure out what mileage the Septa buses get and what sort of fuel they use. I also take the subway, but I won’t count that just yet. I also walk and ride my bicycle alot.

From Philadelphia Transit Vehicles:

The SEPTA bus fleet consists of approximately 1400 buses which operates out of nine (9) depots throughout the Philadelphia metropolitan area. These depots are Allegheny, Comly, Callowhill, Frankford, Frontier, Midvale, Southern, and Victory. The ninth depot, Germantown, is mainly used as the brake shop for the bus system, but is also where contracted routes 310 (Horsham Breeze), 312 (Cornwell Heights Shuttle) and 316 (LUCY) are based out of. Additionally, this is where the RTS and New Looks of the SEPTA Historic Fleet are stored.

As I live in Philadelphia, I use SEPTA for transportation needs. I found a site that gives a listing of the various buses owned by SEPTA:
This also includes a breakdown of the various types of buses. However, I don’t know if I can figure out what gasoline mileage these buses get (not just for this project, but also for my own curiosity)

For example, one of the bus models is the American Ikarus. This model (416.08TA) outnumbers the other models owned by SEPTA. It is manufactured by NABI (North American Bus Industries). However in their spec sheet, I don’t see anything related to gasoline/diesel usage.

So I am still trying to figure this out.