Life In The Pacific Northwest
Just got this email from Sound Transit:
Northline 1700 (departed KSS at 4:05) is being held due to the report of a suspicious package near Galer Street. The Seattle Police Department has been called and we are waiting for their determination. This may also cause a delay in the departure of train 1702 (4:33 Seattle Departure).
It’s my sincerest hope that this is just some stupid mix-up and not something heinous. Of course, it’s quite likely that this is someone’s idea of funny.
Originally posted on my Snohomish County focused blog here.
I remember, years ago, riding my bike through Brier and stumbling upon a loading dock and set of buildings just off Vine Road. There’s precious little marking the spot, and it seems very quiet during the day. Over time, I would drive by in the mornings and see the place pretty busy. Anyway, for years, every time I passed the place I wondered what was there, but not with enough intensity to actually get off my butt and do something. Well, with today’s technology, I don’t need to get off my butt to learn more.
Turns out this is Northgate Egg Farm, a part of E. C. Wilson Produce CO., INC. According to the WA State DOL, they’ve been on file since 1968, but according to Manta, they’ve been around since 1906. I’m willing to bet there’s a bit of murkiness to records predating the ’60s, but I really don’t know. Either way, they’ve been in the area for quite some time. They are listed as an “egg distributor”, whether that expands on the obvious, I don’t know.
What I find cool is that this is a living part of this area’s history. Much of South Snohomish County’s early economic roots were egg farms. At one point we had 200,000 egg laying hens. Most of that has died out, but we have a little piece of it still living, quietly, in the heart of Brier.
I enjoy the flickr feed from the WSDOT. All kinds of great work.
I just read a Tweet about “Twitter being the future of journalism“. Well, it’s really the “now” of journalism. Right now. Perhaps it’s a great time for one of my favorite Wil Wheaton quips, “I love living in the future”.
Crowdsourcing is one of the greatest pieces of the Internet age. Whether we’re talking about open source software, raising funds, or news, the power of the collective amazes me. The downside stems from volume, and the ability of malevolent players to perform mischief. Yet those voices tend towards discovery with amazing speed.
Hard to gauge how all this will evolve. But the journalistic game changed, radically and permanently. I label this whole phenomena “digitized democracy”. Voices become equalized.
So, just a few random thoughts which I intend to flesh out further. I hope you have wonderful Fridays.
One of my chums was lamenting how difficult it is to buy homes right now if you’re a traditional buyer (read: borrowing money). I, being the nerd I am, popped into the NWMLS and whipped out the following stats.
Out of a total of 14,181 sales so far in 2013:
And all the rest “other”.
So, a quick snap-shot for you. Summary: a significant number of sales are going to cash buyers, but loans still predominate. 63% of properties in this region are going with some kind of financing.
I don’t watch network TV much anymore, so missed this.
Thank goodness for the YouTube.
Enjoy your mind-growth moment of the day.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T0vs9gYydo]
The city of Monroe just posted this on their site:
Not sure what the issue is, but they give you the details.
Just helping get the word out.
There’s greater risk from action than from cynical critique. And greater reward. Go and DO great things. Don’t simply sit and pick apart those actually doing the hard work of enacting change; driving to make the world better.
I noticed this gem trending on Reddit today:Zales Fires Top Earning Saleswoman Because She Needs Surgery. Basics: Zales fires one of their best performing sales staff right after being informed she will need to take a disability leave. However one feels about this, the most crucial piece is that this is from 2009. 4 years later, this is rising on Reddit. You can guarantee that Zales will get hate messaging about this. Reminds me of one of the recurring issues I saw at Starbucks: Starbucks Hates The Military Rumor. This guy kept recycling, often at the most random times. Lesson: be very careful with your PR. Even false accusations will cycle through cyberspace and provide you regular aggravation. True ones will continuously rise up and bite, teeth sharper with each retelling.
