The mercury hit 90°F (32°C) here in the city today, and I waited for the fireball in the sky to sit a little lower, before I ventured out on my usual South Lake Union walkabout. Here are some pictures.
Wednesday/ July is dry
The weatherman says we’re going to hit 86°F (30°C) on Sunday.
July & August are dry months in Seattle with ¾ in. of rain each, on average. (As much as 5 or 6 in. of rain may fall each month from November through January).
The little patch of lawn in front of my house is already dry and mostly yellow. I only water the beds and potted plants in the backyard; not the lawn.
Monday/ another ‘woonerf’
I spotted a building on Saturday at the street food fair on 8th Ave, that had a striking glass-faced box (picture below). So I looked up the design drawing for it (on seattleinprogress.com).
I see there is another woonerf in the making, next to it. (At least one more is planned for 12th Ave). Woonerf (pronounce VONE-erf) is a Dutch word, for a street with park-like surroundings, that is shared by pedestrians, cyclists, and cars (driving slowly).
Thursday/ fireworks make a lot of smoke
Not to be a party pooper, but it may be time to look for high-tech options* to replace the massive fireworks displays for events such as Fourth of July. Prof. Cliff Mass reports on his weather blog that Puget Sound Clean Air Agency measured a huge spike of the dangerous PM2.5 particle in the aftermath of Thursday night’s show. From levels under 20 µg/m³, the readings increased to over 100 µg/m³, which is in the ‘unhealthy’ air quality index range.
*Using drones, like the ones deployed at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, is a possibility. But yes, I readily concede that drones do not explode with loud bangs.
Thursday/ one to become six ‘net zeros’
Here’s another house nearby mine, that is now gone, gone, gone. The stately 1905 construction was completely demolished, and in its place will come two 3-story buildings with three net-zero condominium homes each. (A net-zero home has zero net energy consumption).
I am sure there will be stretches of winter months when the new homes will not achieve net zero energy consumption (cold weather, short days of sun for the solar panels) – but they will then make up for it in the summer months.
Wednesday/ squeezing through the Locks
The Star Legend passenger ship went through the Ballard Locks today to get to Lake Union from Puget Sound. News reports said it was the biggest vessel yet – but that must be by tonnage*. The Star Legend’s beam is 67.5 ft (20.6 m), and the lock is 80 ft wide (24.4 m), so there was room to work with.
*In 1975, on-lookers beheld the extraordinary sight of a wide floating dry-dock vessel 81 ft wide (24.7 m), that was manoeuvred through by listing the vessel on her side, here.
Sunday/ we are all gay at Seattle Pride
Today I went to the annual downtown mayhem on Fourth Avenue – called the Seattle Pride parade – and stayed for some two hours to take a few pictures.
Then I walked down to the festivities (food & trinket booths, fountain, sound stage) by Seattle Center, at the foot of the Space Needle. The Center grounds were packed with so many people, that one could hardly move. I took a few more pictures, and then thought: Alright, I did my part, let’s go home.
Thursday/ hello summer!
Tonight, the sun set at 9.10 pm here in Seattle. It will rise at 5.11 am.
I see our pitch black night length here at the summer solstice point is only 1 hr 43 mins, if one takes out all the kinds of twilight.
Tuesday/ boxed water and new buildings
It’s been more than three years since the Capitol Hill light rail train station here in my neighborhood opened (March 2016).
The construction of apartment buildings on the surrounding open plots of land will finally start. There was a little ceremony on Tuesday, with a few farmers’ market vendors on hand, and displays of the proposed construction, as well as the expansion plans for the light rail.
Some future stations were marked ‘service starts in 2036’ and ‘service starts in 2041’. Whoah. Where will the world be, and what will the world look like, then?
Sunday/ floating on a pink flamingo
Here’s the scene at Madison Park Beach* late Sunday afternoon.
*Not a true beach. It’s a pebble beach on Lake Washington, northeast of the city of Seattle.
Wednesday/ a little rain
We had cool weather the last week or so. The high was 66°F/ 18 °C today, with a little bit of welcome rain here in the city. I see there is warm summer weather on the way for next week: low 90s/ 33 °C.
Tuesday/ gone: the head tax
Wow. The Seattle City Council voted today to completely reverse the controversial ‘head tax’ that it had approved just on May 14. There had been considerable opposition to it, and a grassroots effort garnered enough signatures to put the issue on the November ballot. Word is that the City Council feared the head tax, as well as an education levy (already on the November ballot), would be overturned in November by the citizenry, so they cut their losses and voted to reverse the head tax.
The homelessness problem is very complicated. No question that housing is too expensive. (So – find money and build more public housing?). Yes, many corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes, by using complicated offshore tax avoidance strategies. But it’s not just about affordability, either. Many people are on the streets because they are mentally ill, or drug abusers, and the services available to them are too thin and underfunded.
Sunday/ the Space Needle & the Pink Elephant
I went down to the Space Needle this afternoon, to check how the removal of the scaffolding is progressing.
Thursday night beers
It was ‘beers & a bite’ night for me and my compadres, at our usual Irish pub (The Chieftain) on 12th Avenue.
We usually try not to make the conversation all about politics and the Trump Administration Circus .. but it’s really hard not to!
Wednesday/ rescue on Mt Baker
Below is a still frame of a successful mountain rescue mission on Monday. Four hikers got in trouble high up on Mt Baker, and had to shelter in a cave on Sunday night.
The rescue helicopter only had a 30 minute window of clear weather conditions. Landing in the snow created tricky white-out conditions (churned- up snow powder), and the four hikers were the maximum load that could be accommodated by the helicopter.
Saturday/ here comes the Norwegian Bliss
The Norwegian Bliss is brand new, and the biggest cruise ship to visit Seattle yet. (Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas is slightly bigger).
The Bliss’s passenger capacity is 4,004, crew of 1,716, cruise speed 23.2 knots from diesel electric engines, length is 1,094 ft (333.5 m) and maximum beam 136 ft (41.5 m).
She was constructed at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany.
Wednesday/ smart meter installation
A contractor for Seattle City Light stopped by my house today, to install my ‘smart’ meter (for metering electricity usage). I see the device is from a Swiss vendor Landis+Gyr.
‘The meter will last you 20 years or more’, said the technician. (OK. But if vastly better technology becomes available, I’m sure it will be replaced).
Why a smart meter? The meter beams its readings to a collector tower nearby, and to the utility from there. So no more driving around by meter readers (that get bitten by the dog, or cannot get to the meter). The meter will automatically notify Seattle City Light of outages. Finally, once all the back-end systems are in place, customers (me) would be able to monitor their electricity usage remotely and in real time.
Friday/ a summery May
We have had summery weather this May. It has been drier and hotter than normal all month here in the Pacific Northwest.
Tuesday/ mountain lion attack
There was a mountain lion (cougar) attack on two mountain bikers on Saturday morning. Isaac Sederbaum (31) was injured but is OK, but his friend S.J. Brooks (32), tragically, did not survive. Brooks was an avid biker that had moved here from Boston. Before Saturday, 16 cougar attacks, one of which was fatal, had been reported in Washington state during the past century.
Friday/ the new shingles vaccine
I got my first of two shots, of a new shingles vaccine called Shingrix, yesterday. My left shoulder was sore for a good day or so. I thought o-ouch! every time I lifted up my arm, but I am much better today.
The vaccine is effective, and strongly recommended for everyone over 50. Shingles can be a debilitating affliction with long-term consequences. This new vaccine has an adjuvant (agent) that will boost the body’s response to it, and it does not contain the live virus – just parts of the dead virus.