Crappy Trader Joe's Parking

*sigh*

If you ride a bike and occasionally shop at Trader Joe's in downtown, then I don't need to tell you their bike parking sucks. It was only during a recent interaction though that it fully dawned on me how crappy bike parking equals conflict with cars.

For those unfamiliar, the downtown TJ's main entrance faces a HUGE car parking lot, with I'd estimate at least 200 spaces, bordered by Mobo Sushis, Longs, and El Pollo Loco - The facade of the former building has 2 bike racks. Yeah, you heard that right - approximately 200 cars spaces and 2 bike racks. These racks hold at the most 4 bicycles, and as you might imagine, are often taken, which puts folks like me in the difficult position of locking up to grocery cart racks and...handicap signs.

The latter of which I found myself standing at last week as a middleaged woman with a blue placard kept edging her white compact closer and closer to me. She looked wealthy and annoyed by my presence even though I was a good 2 feet away from the concrete parking buffer. I tried to make the best of the situation by signaling that she could come much closer but she barely budged. Finally, I ignored her, finished suiting up and left...feeling a tad guilty and like her, annoyed.

I'd only locked up to the handicap sign because two other bikes already were latched to the grocery cart stands and it looked crowded. But why this vying for space to begin with?

I bring this up with a friend while riding. He says in a better world, the property company that houses Trader Joe's would take out 2 car parking spaces and install a covered bike corral or pavilion which could house upwards of 30 bicycles. I say, from a business perspective, this makes perfect sense - the average car parking space houses one customer, while the same amount of space could house 10 on bikes. So why the crappy bike parking situation?

My friend shrugs, says people would worry about homeless folks or whatnot, usual Santa Cruz boogeyman factor. I laugh and point out that as it stands, the new Southern California looking ugly ass shrine-to-over-consumption Safeway building off Almar and Mission has more bike parking out front that Trader Joe's. In fact, the schmucks have actually put up a sign boasting how dedicated Safeway is to saving the earth. Sheeeeit. Earth to Trader Joe's, you gonna let Safeway out eco you?

Random Ride Report

Yesterday morning heading south on Murray I pass two people sleeping across the railroad tracks in sleeping bags. One has his/her arm over the other in a tender manner that juxtaposes nicely against the scattered bits of trash and newspapers.

Tuesday night by Soquel and Frederick, some douche in a big black SUV with his cell phone up his ass, coming in the opposite direction, makes a left right in front of me. I brake enough in time and he speeds up to get out of my way. I get home and recharge the batteries for my lights.

Saturday morning by Broadway and Ocean, in the bike lane (as usual), no helmet (not as usual), bright beautiful day - white compact on my left slows to turn into driveway, i assume he sees me, he doesn't. I brake and fumble for my bell, i miss the bell, and end up yelling the first thing my brain can come up with: "Whoah, whoah! WHOAH!" He slows down just in time for me to pass - maybe a foot away.

Whomever said separate bike paths (i.e. away from car dominated roads) aren't necessary is clueless.

Give me good bike parking...or else

I meant to take this pick months ago when I first noticed that the Mission Street strip mall which houses Coffeetopia, La Mission Mexican Restaurant, and Ristorante Avanti, had taken out a single car parking space and replaced it with 5 bike parking rings. This can house at least 10 bicycles - though a better rack could probably fit in at least 5 more. No complaints though, whomever made this happen deserves much props....

Poetically enough, the day I took the former picture was right after that powerful (global warming induced?) storm about two weeks ago. The latter picture here is what really peaked my interest.

I've seen a lot of local gas stations close down over the years - the site of Fin's Coffee on Ocean St, the empty lot on the corner of Water and Ocean that used to house a Shell, the one near Almar and Mission that keeps opening and closing, the former corporate station gone "Bio-Diesel" on Ocean/Soquel that never really seems to have any business - But from what I can tell, these have all been due to crappy economic times. The station above was only temporarily shut down after the storm caused the roof to collapse - still, I always like it when mother nature strikes back.

Bike Parking In the SC Boondocks

Conversation w/ Barista @ People's Coffee:

Do you want a receipt?
yes, please. So, you the owner?
I'm the manager. The owner will be in tomorrow.
Any chance we could get some better bike parking out there?
Yeah, well, a rack wouldn't fit on the patio and the cars need access right around there...
Yeah, but I had to lock up on the railing, i don't wanna block foot traffic or anything...
There are racks across the parking lot behind the market
Hmmmm...that's still kinda far, why not take out one of the car parking spaces and put a bike rack there?
*stares at me blankly. shakes his head*
i take my coffee and go

Balloon boy b.s.

Over the weekend the headline reports on CNN radio where all about the balloon boy.

I think it's safe to say issues like global warming and peak oil and resource wars are never gonna be dealt with in a serious manner by the media. At least not the U.S. media - It's completely defined by triviality and commercial interests. What passes for mainstream "news" in the United States these days is basically a corporate-version of Pravda - well produced, entertaining, grade A bullshit.

Pity the rest of the country isn't watching any serious material like this:

Longer lines at New York food banks - Al Jazeera English
Food security in the US has been steadily worsening, with millions of Americans having to rely on charities and aid organisations for their next meal.

http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/10/20091016214442454900.html

Transitions & Harbingers

Got a dehydrator over the weekend.

This means that all those extra the tomatoes we've been growing won't go into the worm bin.

I consider it another small step in the so-called "transition period" my generation is going through - getting ready for the post-peak oil world, global-warming disaster preparedness, simple living, self-reliance, DIY homesteading, yada yada.

To date, I've sold my car, acquired a bike trailer that's been used to haul many heavy things it shouldn't have, use two worm composting bins, learned to identify a ton of edible and medicinal wild plants and herbs, learned how to fix up a bike pretty well, acquired a rain water barrel, learned how to grow a decent garden, and the list goes on.

In retaliation, the capitalist system, vis a vis things like inflation, stagnant wages, and free trade agreements has pretty much stopped me from participating in things I used to enjoy like: sushi, record stores, concerts, eating out, movies, and buying the occasional t-shirt. Honestly though, I only really miss sushi.

I guess this is my way of saying for every little step forward, there's a lot of things, a former middle class rat like me leaves behind. I know I'm not alone in this predicament - All my friends who're still employed have had their hours cut back or furloughed - and at least half these folks are professionals.

Thankfully, there's a growing movement of people who seem to be cognizant enough to read the writing on the wall, check this out:

Reskilling Expo
Sat. Oct 17th
10-4pm
United Methodist Church in Santa Cruz
http://transitionsc.org/

Of course, my acquaintances at Transitions SC still aren't grappling w/ some of the bigger issues we're all going to have to address sooner or later. For instance - How does one reconcile working 40 hours a week and raising a sizeable edible garden? I know in my instance, the biggest issue is labor time - harvesting the greens, washing them, and then prepping them for eating.

What happens if you wanna kick it up a notch and start raising chickens too?

The other ugly thing to consider is the fact that if certain appliances (think refrigerators, microwaves) we've come to rely on become too energy intensive/expensive, what simpler options do we have? Can you still even purchase an ice box anymore? Can you even buy ice by the block?

There has to be a point where people working on transitioning into what will undoubtedly be a slower, more austere way of living will have to face the contradiction of coming home in office attire then quickly changing into gardening, or bicycle repairing clothes. Imagine this happening day after day, for years on end. I'd say it's a strain many of us are already feeling right now. Something's gotta give.

Fremont Autoplant Shuts Down

I really like the headline for this article:

"The end of the line for California automaking"

Toyota Motor Corp.'s decision to abandon its assembly line in Fremont marks the end of large-scale auto manufacturing in California, which over the years boasted a dozen or more plants building vehicles ranging from Studebakers to Camaro muscle cars.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-fi-toyota-plant28-2009aug28,0,1022235.story

There are so many interesting angles here - from the last autoplant in California closing, to the converting of the dead factories into even deader shopping malls (anyone from L.A. knows the City of Commerce's "Citadel Mall" is an eyesore Godzilla wouldn't bother pissing on). Then there's the last ditch attempts to bribe, i mean "give incentives" to keep toyota here by democractic and republican politicians alike.

Is it too early to say we're in the midst of an apocalyptic industrial collapse? Probably.

Those factories are just going to move elsewhere, where workers are less demanding of a better life, or according to the logic of capitalism, labor is cheaper and the cost of doing business is "more competitive."

*I grew up across the street from a dead autoparts factory. It's closing brought about all kinds of strife - crime, vandalism, litter. It also for a while opened up a space for my dad to show me how to ride a bike, and for my family to walk across an abandoned parking lot to visit other family members in the neighborhood.

*Back in the 1970s, my dad also worked briefly in a UAW represented autoplant before it closed down and relocated to the former slave territories known as the South. He described it as "back breaking, exhausting" work and he was glad to get out of it.

If you read the linked article, on the 2nd page, it quotes a manager of a bar located next to the closing plant, who says he "would lay off a single mother who worked an early morning shift that caters to the plant's overnight shift, and he could lose two more employees."

Wait, rewind for a second - a single mother gets laid off to keep a business running, and it's just another casualty of downsizing? Gotta love the premise of capitalism, it's a lot like living on a boat that constantly leaks so people have to be thrown overboard in order to keep afloat. This is how the system works in bad times as well as good. And the worst part is, most people accept this as moral and legitimate.

Check out the last quote from a soon to be laid off worker: "As for the future, I am going to do a lot of fishing and a lot of praying."

I'm afraid praying ain't gonna be enough this time homes. Time to form communes. Time to get organized. If we aren't in the midst of an industrial collapse, it may be around the corner.