Some pictures from New York City after my 1993 bike trip across USA.

Going through old photos from the only time in my life that I was in New York City. It was when I took the train back from my second bike trip across USA in 1993.

Arriving from Penn Station.

In 1993, a two month bike trip got me as far as the town of Hudson, NY. I took the train back from there.

I spent one night and parts of 2 days in New York City between trains. It was rainy and dreary, but I still walked all over taking lots of pictures.

My bike was shipped back from Hudson so I was on foot.

I would have stayed in a hotel, but got to talking to someone at the Hudson train station who invited me to his psychologist's office to spend the night on a therapist's couch.

I was afraid the guards wouldn't let me in the building, but he reassured me that he would let the guards know I was coming. He was in Hudson, that night, so the office was vacant as planned.

When I got to the door, the guard didn't recognize me, but then he found a note on the bulletin board and welcomed me with great fan fair, impressed that I had biked across USA.

Then I walked around the city in the pouring rain looking like I was just another of the homeless.

I brought the rolls of film, from my trip, with me in case I couldn't get back into the building I was staying at. The only thing I left behind in the therapist's office was some dirty laundry.

When I got back, there was another guard, at the door, but he also found the note and let me in. I slept comfortably that night.

For parts of two days, I walked somewhat uncomfortably in shabby sun bleached clothing, from biking. Landmarks, like the Empire State Building, had their observation decks up in a layer of fog so I figured I might come back later.

During my childhood, I was fascinated in a city within the city, Radio City otherwise known as Rockefeller Center.

The childhood fascination was more subdued by 1993, but I did take the tour of Radio City Music Hall; one of the only indoor things I did.

I walked around outside at Rockefeller Center with it's flagship building, formerly called the RCA Building.

Inside was likely lots of security guards making entry somewhat difficult without legitimate business in the building. I didn't even try it being a bit shy myself anyway.

I'd heard that a suite and tie was required to even enter the Rainbow Room which was the fancy restaurant at the top.

More recently, the rainbow Room was closed and replaced with an even more exclusive club. The observation deck was only for VIP guests (back in 1993).

Since then, I have learned that the observation deck is now open again and a big tourist attraction called "Top of the Rock."

Base of what was once called the RCA Building. I saw lots of things from the outside.

Plaza at Rockefeller Center. An early version of what they call a "planned unit development," I guess; sort of like the coordinated planning of a college campus.

During 8th grade, I had a big interest in that center. I remember dividing up the WSU campus, in Pullman, into blocks that were like little kingdoms. I shared that little dream with a friend, who I'm still in touch with, named Jeff Goebel.

For some reason, the block, I picked at WSU in that 8th grade fantasy, wasn't as good as the one Jeff picked. I decided to broaden the concept and pick what I thought would be the biggest blocks of all, in New York City.

Maybe that was cheating as it wasn't in Pullman.

Those little fantasies were part of our learning in those days.

Meanwhile on my 1993 trip, I continued walking in the rain taking lot of pictures.

I kept needing to go to the bathroom so I visited places, like Mc Donald's, To get the bathroom key. I had to buy something, so it was another soda pop. That probably just made me have to go to the bathroom more often.

Times Square 1993.

Probably the highlight of my visit was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. City views were fantastic.

Rockefeller Center was good, but my interests had broadened since childhood and there was "so little time and so much to see."

So many famous landmarks in one city. Dakota Apartmants.

UN Building.

Flat Iron Building has been standing since 1902. These days, things like that interest me a lot.

I even got to original World Trade Center and walked through the lobby, but the observation floor was up in the clouds. I figured I wouldn't see much so I kept walking. I saw lots from the ground.

This was all before 911, but the attempted 1993 bombing, in the parking garage, had happened. I could see restoration work being done.

Another landmark, the New York Stock Exchange.

It was an interesting time. Hard to believe, now days, that I was even there. It was a fun time, but really like a whirlwind visit.

Late afternoon of the second day, I got on the train and was headed back to Bellingham; a 3 day train trip after a 2 month bike ride.

Biking can be a good way to avoid traffic rat race.

Cut through on a quiet residential street. Humboldt St. in Bellingham.

Northbound lanes of I-5 are still closed dumping some of the I-5 traffic onto South Samish Highway through part of Bellingham. This puts more traffic on the main street past Lake Padden, but there are back routes and trails. After our Sunday Lake Padden Walking Group, I traced my route to our after walk lunch gathering at Whole Foods. I used the Bike-o-meter app.

We may be too hard on one another and our institutions these days. Circular firing squad.

If Hillary Clinton had won in 2016, we would have a different Supreme Court today. She won the popular vote, but the enthusiasm and vote wasn't quite enough, or in the right places, to win the Electoral College.

Some folks thought she was too much into money. Maybe like a yuppie. Come to think about it most people, I know who are homeowners these days, are millionaires. They would have never guessed, 40 years ago, that they would be there. It's a different economy today.

Of course being a millionaire means a million dollars in assets after subtracting liabilities; such as mortgage payments that are still owed. Once liabilities are subtracted, a million dollar asset could still mean owing more than one's total assets. This mean could mean no longer in the millionaire club, maybe even in debt.

Lots of people, I know, happen to be retired these days, so they seem less likely to be in debt, but who can judge? Without examining their books, not I.

I got to thinking that a lot of businesses may look wealthy, on paper, but when liabilities are taken into account, they are not that wealthy. They are sometimes even struggling; small businesses, farmers and even some large corporations.

Democrats are sometimes accused of being anti business. There is some justification in criticizing Democrats for that, as well as Republicans. Businesses and other institutions, such as governments, do have liabilities and responsibilities. There are realities like meeting a payroll, paying for insurance, taxes and following a gauntlet of regulations, for instance.

Our expectations tend to be high these days. We do tend to be hard on one another and our institutions. No one is perfect, but I still think we would have been better off with Clinton than Trump in 2016.

These days, of course, that's water under the bridge, but maybe we can have more patience and do better, going forward.

Possible plans revealed early for a presidential library in Florida.

Another unprecedented thing. Plans revealed early for a Trump presidential library / skyscraper in Miami with gold statues. Land already donated and an airport being renamed years before the end of that presidency.

Memories of a supposed great leader who may be contributing to the ruin of the rest of the world before then.

Could stagflation bring back the alternative thinking of the 1970s?

It looks like US and world economies are returning to the stagflation that defined my college years in the 1970s. Inflation and stagnation at the same time. Rising costs for fossil fuels and other natural resources drove inflation along with a slowdown in the economy.

That was also an era when we started to try and adapt the economy to a limited planet. Alternative energy, transportation and alternative lifestyles were coming into style.

Since then, more oil was found and technology was able to create new kinds of wealth. A turn toward more "traditional" values for a growing economy remained in mainstream thinking. An economy still dependent, for the most part, on fossil fuels. This has brought us to where we are now.

I'm fairly disappointed that we never made the changes, on a real large scale, that were talked about 50 years ago. There have been lots of innovations around the edges, but mainstream life and business practices haven't really changed that much.

Now that we face another fossil fuel crisis, I wonder how it will pan out? Will the spirit of idealism and change that existed, in my little bubble during my college years, come back into style?

There is more difference between Republicans and Democrats, these days, than in any other time of my 70+ year lifetime.

I think there is more difference between the Democrats and the Republicans these days than at any other time in my lifetime. There is a huge difference now. I prefer the Democrats.

When I was younger, the parties were more alike. They were different, but not as stark a difference as today. There were liberal Republicans, like Governor Dan Evans in Washington State, and conservative southern Democrats, often called the Dixicrats. Both parties were a mix.

Money always ran the show, in both parties as it still, unfortunately, does today. That seems to never change, though there have been attempts at campaign finance reform; especially in the 1970s years after the Watergate Scandal.

It seems nearly impossible to rid politics of money due to the power of celebrity status and name recognition. Otherwise, maybe little people, like me, could be on the national stage. It seems like even in the world of the internet and influencers, money and sponsorship plays a huge role. It's the behavior of the mass market.

Still, there is more difference in policies, between the parties today, than at any other time in my memory.

The Republican House is dysfunctional.

It looks like the Republican run House of Representatives and it's leader Mike Johnson have shot themselves in the foot by rejecting the Senate bill to fund TSA at airports. Airport angst continues.

Congress is pretty dysfunctional under Republican leadership and now even their beloved President Trump is trying to work around the impasse by signing an executive order to fund TSA, like in a dictatorship just to get the job done.

Fortunately I have no plans to fly and haven't been in a plane since the 1980s.

America's recent wars have not been that successful, but much of the world still envies America's peacetime economy.

In recent decades, the US has been better at winning the peace than winning a war. Our quagmire wars in the Middle East have been long and costly struggles often making things worse in their wakes. Meanwhile much of the world still envies American consumer culture, our movies and lifestyles.

If Trump had won in 2020, we'd likely have a Democrat in the White House now.

Maybe it would have been better if Trump had won in 2020 because we would likely be done with him by now. As the pendulum swings, we would probably would have elected a Democrat in the 2024 election.

War sabotaging the fossil fuel industry.

While more reports come out warning about climate change and fossil fuel use. Part of the world is in the process of destroying fossil fuel production facilities in the Persian Gulf. I think the two things that are happening simultaneously are happening for different reasons, however.

I still think peaceful reduction is consumption is a better way to go.

It's not just that there are too many people on earth, it's also the way people wish to live.

There are too many people on earth if over half of the people want to live the so called American Dream of single family homes, car ownership, free parking. Population is one factor, the other factor is how people wish to live. What type of lifestyles and societies are people aspiring to have?

There is more than one variable in this equation. One is number of people while another is how we live. Other variables include technology, which can either improve the situation or make it worse. For instance nuclear technology can be used for weapons or for peaceful low carbon energy.

Good news for moderate left.

Here is what I consider good news.

France’s local elections, closely watched for clues to next year’s presidential vote, have given parties of the centre a welcome and unexpected lift as the far right and radical left fell some way short of their ambitions.

Radical left often just takes votes away from center left giving power over to the right. It's the spoiler problem. Most people don't support all the consequences of radical left. For instance free college, by itself, might poll well, but higher taxes, to pay for running the colleges, doesn't poll as well.

Maybe people are getting scared of sinking into Trumpism.

Avoiding traffic when rockslides block roads to Bellingham.

Rains and a rockslide has temporarily closed north bound lanes of I-5 south of Bellingham diverting some I-5 traffic through a few Bellingham streets to get back onto I-5 north of the slide. An alternate route called South Samish Way goes right past Lake Padden.

On my bike, I found a way to avoid that traffic, but still see it. I went south on the shoulder of S. Samish to a residential street near Lake Padden as the traffic was headed north. Then I veered off to the right to quieter residential streets down into the Fairhaven District and then back home.

Even Old Fiarhaven Parkway was busy, but I avoided most of the traffic and was able to cross at a light.

Next day I went to our Lake Padden Sunday walking group and biked to that event a different way than normal.

Quiet back streets to Old Fairhaven Parkway and then under I-5 to Connelly Ave. Then the second right to Padden Creek Trail which was not a ratrace at all.

This reminds me of April 2025 when another road to Bellingham was blocked by a rockslide. Chuckanut Drive was blocked for several months.

I almost never ride south of Larabee State Park on Chuckanut since it is way to narrow for bicycles and fairly busy.

Since the road was blocked to through traffic, it was an opportunity to ride on it with less traffic out as far as the road closed sign.

This is the only time in my life that I ate at the famous Oyster Bar Restaurant on Chuckanut Drive.

Reducing overly cumbersome degree requirements for state jobs.

Washington State has a new state law dropping overly cumbersome degree requirements for state jobs.

According to an article I saw on Fox TV 13 via Yahoo News: The purpose of the legislation is to "[reduce] barriers to state employment by eliminating postgraduate degree requirements that are unnecessary." Specifically, it seeks to eliminate those requirements when they are "the only way to demonstrate qualifications" for a particular state job.

Ferguson says this will reduce barriers for employment and allow the state to get "the best people for public service."

(My take) I think it's a good idea. I wonder if it also applies to degree requirements for university professors in state run schools? More flexible screening, for skills needed on a job, is a good idea.

Photo from a website.

Solar energy helps Pakistan reduce dependency of Persian Gulf for energy.

On March 16 NPR Radio Website I saw. Oil and gas prices are soaring. Some countries are ready with solar panels and EVs. Energy experts say that because of the rapid growth of solar, Pakistan has a greater cushion against the growing energy crisis.

Conservative religious values and traditions could bring us back to a new Dark Ages.

This morning I woke up to some disgusting news that some countries in West Africa may be increasing the punishment for the crime of LGBTQ promotion and behavior. I ask, "do they want to force people into heterosexual lifestyles to increase population?" The world seems overpopulated as it is. Conservative religious tribalism.

I USA, we have conservative tribalism that takes the form of supporting Trump as he eliminates USAID. We also have conservative religion and tribalism that closes our borders. It's the return to old values and fighting over limited territory.

Someone once said they thought Israel was the most lethal country for it's size on earth. Yes, it is a very small country, but does pack a lethal punch. Before 1967 Israel had less than 8,000 square miles. Not much larger than Okanogan County, here in Washington State; our largest county at 5,266 square miles. We have another 38 counties in Washington State.

I sometimes think the so called holy land in the Middle East is called that due to the bullet holes and bomb craters.

The choice between dogmatic religion and atheism is bleak. Liberal, open minded religion seems more palatable.

The choice between the dictatorial god of fundamentalists and no soul or spiritual dimension of atheism is a stark and bleak world, in my opinion. I prefer liberal religious organizations that don't dictate what people believe. There can still be, at least a hope, that there is more to life than just the chemical reactions we are made out of. Beyond clear evidence, from science, what is possible and what one wants to believe is anyone's guess.

Religion can be a space for creativity and people often say, "today's science fiction can become tomorrow's science."

It's true that even scientists don't always stick, unquestioningly, to a rigid set of beliefs. Science follows evidence, but scientific ideas change as our understanding of evidence changes. Science evolves.

I think people may have evolved with survival instincts that program us to avoid death and to seek things like meaning and comfort. If these hopes are removed, our society and psychology seems to suffer. On the otherhand unquestioned beliefs in things without scientific evidence can be a problem as well.

I think liberal churches provide more of a balance between rigid fantasies and total lack of what we loosely refer to as "soul."

Churches are not necessary, but they are one source of community as well. It seems like we are evolved to seek community as well.

While I am not in a church, I often go to events held in church buildings.

I grew up in the United Church of Christ, a liberal denomination.

The summer after my freshman year in college, I went back to a discussion in the church of my childhood. It was a "talk back to the minister" event.

In the discussion, I brought up an idea that there was a difference between faith and belief.

I said most people think of faith as an unchanging belief, but I redefined faith as a less tangible connection between the universe, or something we call god, and ourselves. I thought of faith as being a transcendent reality beyond just the words of a belief.

This philosophy professor, named Dr. Bundy at Washington State University, was also in that discussion. He was very impressed with my contribution to the discussion; especially at my young age. My mom was in that discussion as well and was beaming with pride. I remember walking out of that discussion on cloud 9.

Some of those ideas, about transcendence, probably came from learning Transcendental Meditation during high school.

In Pullman, and across the nation, there was a fad in the early 1970s to learn Transcendental Meditation. Posters of the Maharishi were all over the WSU campus.

I decided to try it.

Discussions about these types of things were very welcome in the church I grew up in.

Since then, I have not kept up the twice a day practice of meditation however.

Graduated income taxes are a good compromise.

I'm not for "sticking it to the rich" with massive taxes, but I am for graduated income taxes with the rich getting taxed more.

I have said I support Washington State's millionaires tax, but I understand that we still need entrepreneurs and businesses to thrive for our economy.

Any tax, even just on the very wealthy, does have consequences felt down the line, including on upper middle class. The short term effects on prices and jobs are usually passed on to the public.

There's no total "free lunch," but in the long run, spending by government is needed for infrastructure, education and other things benefiting prosperity and society.

There is a balance that could be called a sweet spot between the extremes.

Our war may cause regime change in USA of the political kind.

The US - Israeli war against Iran may cause regime change in the US as Republicans fall in the polls. Trump's brand and even Israel's brand is loosing popularity, at least the right wing aspects of it.

I don't drive a car and I haven't flown since the 1980s, but I still don't think our civilization is evil.

Gas prices are going up. Air travel is also being inconvenienced by a TSA budget impasse. I could smugly say I haven't flown since the 1980s and I've never driven a car.

There are some folks who feel our civilization is evil and we may be forced back to nature, but I don't see those folks giving up their cars and air travel. I don't feel that our civilization is evil. I like modern industrial society and I also like living in America. I just think we need to adjust how we are living, doing business and doing politics.

Latest report. Finland at the top of the happiest list. Afghanistan at the bottom.

According to BBC.

Trump didn't need to start war to cover Epstein files. Republicans shield him from accountability. Lack of accountability means he starts a war on a whim.

I doubt that Trump started the war with Iran to cover up the Epstein files. The Republican Party has shielded him from accountability so he doesn't have to resort to that.

Republican majorities in Congress and the Supreme Court are like corrupt party hacks that cover for him. Since Republicans have given him so much leeway, he's started the war on a whim.

Right to life politics brings death.

In the name of right to life, Christian nationalists have brought us the politics of more death. Huge cuts in USAID and now a poorly planned war. A true irony.

Not all religious people are right wing nationalists, but Christian nationalists dominate the Trump Administration these days.

AI can engage in discussions that most professionals, in fields of expertise, don't have time to discuss with me.

I recently had a productive conversation, with Google AI, about cosmology. Experts, in the field, usually don't have the time to converse with me. AI can discuss and critique some of my educated speculation on various topics. I have plenty of friends, but most "professionals" just don't have time to deal with lengthy conversations outside their limited circles of colleagues.

I have also used AI to answer questions and do some fact checking. It seems to be able to cut through piles of reading, saving me time, to answer a question.

I've had it critique some of my writing for clarity as well. I'm old enough to remember a time when there wasn't even spellcheckers.

My spelling was terrible before spellcheckers. Teachers would say that evaluating my work was like looking at intelligence through the dirty window of poor spelling and sloppy writing. Even the typewriter has been an innovation.

I'm sure AI has it's downsides as well.

As for power consumption, I'd guess that systems, like Google, don't have to think up an answer each time a question is asked. People, like me, who have speculative ideas, are asking these questions all the time. The system, probably finds it's answers to the questions and repeats the answer it's already given to others. There are millions of people asking questions all the time.

My speculations, about things in cosmology and other topics, are not necessarily unique. I'm always learning, even before AI, that others, including "experts," have come up with the same ideas before.

Much of the value of tools, such as AI, social media and even our transportation devices, is about how we are using them. We can be using them for harm or for good.

I hope Washington State isn't counting it's chickens before they hatch.

I think Washington State's millionaires tax is a good idea, but some of our state budget may be already assuming that the revenue, from that tax, will be available. This year's budget calls for dipping into the state's rainy day fund.

The tax doesn't go into effect until 2029 and there is a chance that it could be tossed out in court if it's interpreted to be violating the state's constitutional prohibition against income taxes. The constitution can be changed, but that's a heavier lift. Other things, like an initiative, could threaten the tax as well.

Unfortunately these things may mean the need for deeper cuts affecting education and other important state services.

Fundamentalists in both Iran and USA have dragged us into war.

I think we would have been better off if we had waited out the morbid fundamentalist regime, in Iran, as it was likely to crumble from within. Instead, our own morbid, fundamentalist values have brought us national leadership that has led us into war. This, instead, is likely to strengthen anti American sentiment in Iran and around the world.

Trump is now trying a new marketing strategy of winning the war. Still, we are facing headwinds. Allies, in Canada, Europe and so forth may now be reluctant to help us reopen the straits of Hormuz after our berating of allies.

Oil prices are climbing, similar to during my college years of the 1970s.

Back in my college years, we had what could be considered kinder presidents, even Nixon, Ford and eventually Carter.

Carter's kindness was thought of, by many, as weakness. The 1979 revolution in Iran lead to the hostage crisis which put Carter in a bad situation, as if not being appreciated for his style.

I remember when Carter's attempt to rescue the hostages resulted in the unfortunate helicopter crash leading to a botched mission. Now, we have news of a military plane crash, in Iraq, that was likely accidental as well. War can be very messy.

Eventually the hostages were released given a combination, on our side, of a willingness to negotiate plus the threat of a heavy stick from the incoming Regan Administration. Promise of returning money, we had impounded from Iran, was part of that deal.

Back to this era, even if we are able to reopen Hormuz, insurance premiums on oil tankers traveling through that route will be high. Our own insurance companies are likely to still try and bring us accurate assessment of the situation as they calculate risk. This situation seems similar to insurance companies still setting premiums due to risks related to climate change in various regions. Homeowner insurance rising in flood and fire prone regions.

At least we still have, for the most part, a free and diverse media so different perspectives can be presented. There is some attempt to use the FCC to try and squelch the expression of diverse opinions even in our own country.

My own take on the news I woke up to this morning. I still try and focus more on whatever good news I find in the vast amount of news we are exposed to each day.

Authoritarian religions reduce population through killing and starvation, but there are nicer alternatives.

Several years ago, I wrote that a worldwide turn toward authoritarian religious values could lead to a higher deathrate and possibly a large reduction in human population. A way to reduce overpopulation. This due, not to birth control or alternative lifestyles, but more wars and famine; an irony to the concept of valuing life.

It does seem like we are on the road toward that, but I still hold the hope that opinions can change and the world can change course. This "mass die-off" scenario can still be only one of many possible futures. We could still have a brighter future, depending on how things are managed. Even religious values don't have to be authoritarian. They can embrace innovation, open mindedness and diversity.

Would a tax on millionaires make it harder for sports teams to recruit top paid athletes?

I am glad that Washington State is likely to get tax on millionaires. Some folks fear that it might hurt business and cause some wealthy folks to leave the state.

Ya, it might make it harder for the Seahawks to recruit top salary players which could degrade their chance at the Superbowl. I don't worry that much about sports.

Banner on my bike that said, "I need not worry about OPEC," back in 1979

For a few days in 1979, I had a banner on my bike that said, "I need not worry about OPEC." That was around the time of the Iranian hostage crisis.

One day when my bike was parked at the WWU library, a photographer from Bellingham Herald happened by. They used the photo as filler. A friend of mine saw it in the paper and told me about it. I bought a copy of the paper and kept it all these years.

Is the US military more honest than the US Justice Department?

It looks like the US military might still have some honesty in it's investigations in spite of the Trump propaganda machine. Preliminary investigation, by military sources so far, seem to indicate the girls school, in Iran was mistakenly hit by US forces.

Now, I wonder if the Justice Department still has enough honesty not to cook the books related to things that could be about Trump in the Epstein Files?