Last week while I was waiting for my turn in the post office I looked over the list of commemorative stamps the USPS will issue this year. The 2010 stamps made me think about the stamps issued in 1960, which predated the year I started collecting stamps, although not by much, but was one of the first year sets I completed.
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1910 to 1960
Posted in Government
Global Warning Score
Global warning score? We don’t need no stinking global warning score in Washington to help decide which new car or truck to buy, do we? I cannot answer the questions of whether we need the score or how much it influences a purchasing decision, but I can say that a global warning score, along with a smog score, is provided on a window sticker on new Toyotas—and probably on other makes too.
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Posted in Cars, Government
Hibernating in Plain Sight
Little brown bat
Despite unusually mild temperature since December the bats on Treasure Island are hibernating for the winter. For whatever reason they didn’t tell one little guy (or gal) where the big slumber party was going to be. Forced to improvise this bat chose a dry, relatively warm, and very public spot to bed down—the upper wall of my neighbor’s covered porch (see picture). So far, it hasn’t complained about the porch light, which is only a few feet away and is always on.
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You Cannot Make These Comments Up
My title isn’t completely apt. What I mean is that I wouldn’t be able to make up comments like the ones I read recently in The Seattle Times. Readers commented on an article describing a plan to build high occupancy toll lanes on Interstate 405. The lanes would be free for vehicles carrying three or more people, while cars with one or two occupants would pay a fee to use them. At last count the story had 169 comments. I skimmed through them, partly to gauge public reaction, but mostly because the way people express themselves in an online forum can be educational, clever, thought provoking, and at times LOL funny.
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Posted in Government
Cash from Clunkers
In 2009 the federal Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), better known as “Cash for Clunkers,” provided cash rebates of up to $4500 to owners of qualifying cars and trucks who traded them in on energy-efficient new vehicles. This year Democrats in the state senate want Washington taxpayers to return the favor by paying sales tax on the value of vehicle trade-ins. Call it “Cash from Clunkers.”
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Posted in Cars, Government
Padding the State Utility Tax
By law the Washington state utility tax rate on Cascade Natural Gas accounts is supposed to be 3.852 percent. After looking over my most recent bill, by my calculation the state is collecting more tax than it should. Although collecting extra tax helps offset our current $2.6 billion budget shortfall, you would still think that the Department of Revenue would double-check every revenue source for accuracy. But if they do, they don’t figure percent the way I was taught.
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Posted in Government
Selling It
I always try to be a good citizen when I’m selling stuff on Craigs List. I price my items reasonably, always provide a photo, keep up with the email from interested parties, and remove my ads as soon as the items sell. Ironically, the bad form I exhibited recently, which caused my ad to removed, led to a quick sale.
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Posted in Cars
Rocky Point Pond
Local rain gauge
A low spot between two driveways on the Mud Bay side of Rocky Point Road serves as an informal neighborhood rain gauge. Whenever we get several consecutive days of all-day rain, a small pond forms there (see picture). Today, the water is almost a foot deep in places and the pond is as large as I have ever seen it. The pond doesn’t last long as the area drains quickly once the rain stops. Calling it a “seasonal pond” seems overstated. “Temporary pond” isn’t apt either. I just call it the Rocky Point Pond.
A couple of summers ago the property owners landscaped the area. They cleared out the underbrush, planted grass in the low spot, and added a bench and a few shrubs and ferns along their driveway. The next winter the area seemed to drain better and the pond was never more than a large puddle. But for now it’s back, at least until the weather changes.
Posted in Mud Bay & Rocky Point
Perihelion Tides
Evidence of global warming?
The extreme high tides in Mud Bay (and everywhere else) the last few days are called “perihelion tides.” The name comes from the term perihelion, which is the point in the path of a celestial body that is nearest to the sun. For earth, the perihelion is reached around January 2nd. Since the moon is also in the part of its monthly orbit when it is closest to the earth, both bodies are having more gravitational effect than average on the tidal range. The result is higher than normal tides for the period January 2nd to January 6th.
Kitsap Sun reporter Chris Dunagan recently wrote in his Watching Our Water Ways blog that the state Department of Ecology is asking people to submit photographs of the high tides, including their exact time and location. Ecology plans to use the photos to help document the impact on Washington coasts of rising sea levels. I don’t plan to submit the photo I took, just share it with anyone reading my blog. It was taken this morning a few minutes before high tide in Dyes Inlet: 9:39 AM, 13.8 feet according to the Saltwater Tides web site. The photo shows the unusual condition of water on the land side of the small bulkhead in front of my house.
Posted in Mud Bay & Rocky Point
Bumper Basher
The fancy chrome rear bumper on my Toyota Tacoma apparently does more than just look good. And house the license plate. While it came out second best when my truck was rear-ended by a PT Cruiser this morning on Wheaton Way, it appears to have prevented any damage to the rest of the vehicle.
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Posted in Cars
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