Recycle Easy in Lubbock! (TTU Recycling in pics)

Lubbock recycling is pretty lousy, but Texas Tech is offering help!

 

Put all of this stuff (in a single, unsorted bag) in the big red dumpster.

Blue is for cardboard, red is for everything else.

Just follow the squiggly red line red line north of the Spirit Arena and the Aquatic Center. (You will get to go past the really cool greenhouses - so jealous!)

Follow these blue signs!

 

For added greenness - create a recycle at Tech carpool - one truck trip is better than 7 car/SUV/truck trips. (I plan to use the electric bike with a trailer this summer!)

 

May recycling be this easy for all!

Saturday Morning Counting

Sure, it's a terrible pic, but it's a beautiful sight

My grandfather grew up in the depression. When I knew him, the depression was long past, but you could see it in his actions and motivations all through his life. There is a ghost of hard times that clings to us.

The drought of the last few years is that for me. This dry spring has scared me a bit. Rain in this part of the country has always been a little scarce and something to be savored, but these days it's more desperately precious.

I sat outside the coffee house this morning, thanking the Lord for this morning's blessing in a dry land.

While I am being thankful...

Toni, Brittany, Vickie, Dustin, and the rest of the family

John, Keith, Chris, and all those who gather around the coffee table

Larry, Julie, and Brandon who stay on my heart more than they will ever know

Spencer and Jereme

My coworkers

The dogs who force me to smile every morning

Free will (even if it gives me the opportunity to be stupid and weird and overwhelmed)

The freedom of a bicycle

The security of a home

Mockingbirds

The people who choose to strive for a healthier world for all

The people who choose to read this blog (we hit 30,000 views this week)

May you remember to count and appreciate your blessings, and may that list be the thing that overwhelms you.

Fossil Free Friday Exclusive: The Egg Arrived (Really Late)

[Exclusive because I am the only dork in town who will be excited about this.]

"I'm sure it's a very rare car. You're probably the first man on earth who ever wanted to own one."

(This cartoon has hung on our fridge for years.)

It's a bittersweet thing. Being the South Plains Electric Eco Dork (SPEED) that I am, I have waited for this moment for five years. That is how long I have wanted to see a Mitsubishi MiEV at the Lubbock Mitsubishi dealer. It's fairly well documented on this blog. Egg car this and egg car the other and more and more about the egg car until the final egg car post (Dec 2015) where I gave up completely because Mitsubishi had discontinued the ill-fated egg of my miniscule electric dreams.

I really do think it's Roswell-invader cute!

Until that point, I had rubber necked each time I passed any Mitsubishi dealer. I spotted one several years ago in Waco, but I was in too big of a hurry to truly check it out.

So, I moved on. I now dream of used Leafs and dust-covered Citicars just waiting to be resurrected.

So there I was cruising past Reagor/Dykes Mitsubishi today - it's in a part of town that I seldom visit. I noticed a Viper and a couple of Mitsubishi Mirages and a....HOLY TOFU, BATMAN! It's a MiEV!

Holy Tofu, indeed!

So, I swung the junky Dodge pickup into a tire-squalling u-turn and slid right into RDM. There it was - gloriously radiant in pearl white (and just as ugly on the outside as my wife thinks they are.) A 2016 Mitsubishi MiEV. I thought of a rare sighting of a doomed species on Animal Planet. This was like that.

A young salesman walked over, asked if he could show me any cars, making a sweeping gesture at all the gas-powered cars on the lot. I said I was there there to see the little white beast hunkering by the door. He asked, "So, you're into the smart cars, are you?"

I gave him a quick education about the car, its capabilities, the stunningness of seeing it there, the $7500 tax break. (I felt great empathy for a 7-year-old I know who loves to educate people on locks, oblivious to the fact that most of us have absolutely no interest in locks.)

He offered to let me drive it. I told him I would love to but that I was not actually in the market. He did not say anything else about driving it, but he was kind, let me sit in it, let me open all of the doors and such. He let me read all the info on the window (including the staggeringly high window sticker of $26,000).

A banner at the ill-fated bike store

That's it. That's the whole story. I left there, went to the bike store and bought a 70% off tire for my cobbled together electric bike.

May you get to live your dreams while they are still dreams.

(If you go by to check it out {yes, I know the chances of that - you don't have to make those rude noises} talk to Gage - he seemed like a genuinely nice guy.)

Minipost: Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market this (and next) Weekend

I have it on good authority that there will be a giant praying mantis there! Need I say more?

 

If I did need to say more, you can probably find it here: http://lubbockdowntownfarmersmarket.com/

 

Strawberries will be gone quickly. Set your alarm!

 

May Saturday morning bring you something healthy and wonderful.

 

PS. There will be another Strawberry Festival next week too!

Be a Squeaky Wheel, Lubbock! Fossil Free Friday Meets Lubbock on a Bike (Lane)

Let's say that you were really ambitious and decided to zoom in the picture below and count the vehicles. You would find five SUV's, three cars, three full-sized pickups, and some dummy's bike. (There's also a 1954 Chevy pickup that would make a rocking electric conversion candidate, but that's a different post.)

 

The picture was taken at 4:45 pm on Wednesday afternoon - so rush hour had not truly kicked in yet.

 

If you want to better understand bike lanes routes in Lubbock, this intersection is a good place to start. Indiana Avenue, by the way, is the town's busiest artery leading to two major hospitals and a major university. With staff, patients, and students, you are looking at more 70,000 people in and near that area. Indiana is one incredibly busy street. The speed limit at the intersection is 40 miles per hour - traffic normally flows closer to 50 mph. Crossing Indiana in the afternoon is the most treacherous part of my commute (regardless of where I cross it).

 

42nd Street Bike Route at Indiana Avenue (Eek!)

 

So here is the thing about this bike route - it is our city suggesting that cyclists play Russian Roulette if they choose to follow the established bike routes.

 

Aerial View of the Same

 

Why do I point this out? Because this is a Democracy. And this is an election year. As we get ready to elect a new mayor and new city council members, we have a chance to find out what our potential politicians are willing to do to represent our wishes and needs, but it is up to us to let them know what our wishes and needs are. While I know that it is easy to be cynical about local politics, I have seen first-hand that Lubbock responds well to squeaky wheels - so be a squeaky wheel. (I just had a great name idea for a bicycle activist group!)

 

A few resources for those of you who are interested:

 

The Green Lane Project - a group dedicated to supporting bike lane creation, maintenance, campaigning, and funding

 

Imagine Lubbock Together - a Lubbock group that is interested in promoting healthier options for our city, and a group that would love to hear from us squeaky wheels.

 

In other Lubbock bicycle news

 

Sun Adventure is nearing its final days - there is not a lot left, but what is there is deeply discounted. My boss scored this sexy beast this week for a very low price. Use this as an excuse to get your butt on a bike!

 

That Sturmey-Archer 5-speed hub - I am so jealous (and a terrible minimalist)

 

May your wheels squeak loudly enough to make a better life for those whose choose healthier options.

Minimalism sidebar: Do smartphones go to heaven when they die? (updated)

[Dedicated to Annie Leonard and Free Range Studios]

Yes, I know. It's sacrilege. I am thinking of giving up my smartphone.

The Phone Call Is Dead

 

My IC chip is going out. I did some looking. I can get a very basic flip phone for $49.99. And I could knock our bill down a bit by dropping data on this line. I could walk away from a lot of distractions, save money, and possibly get closer to finding a little simplicity.

We could also afford some things we've cut back. (I could ride a scooter legally!)

But I'd be giving up a lot.

Blogging and sharing blog posts would be much tougher.
Giving up the talk-to-text feature and the ability to take and share quick photos would be huge.
Instant weather forecasts I would miss.
A big one would be giving up the National Bike Challenge - no ability to use the tracking app.
Constantly having a novel, a bible, a camera, and youtube in my pocket has really spoilt me.

But here's the big question - is it cruel to disconnect yourself from your smart-phoned people?

Is life a little harder for others when they can't reach you so easily, can't group text you, can't share contacts?

It's probably a moot point - I am an info addict, but I keep looking for ways to simplify, to de-clutter, and to live within our means. Is this one of those ways?

May you have better grasp of all this than I do.

BTW, I want a smartphone like this one rather than the one I will end up with. Check it out! (I really suck at minimalism)

 

Fairphone on the Verge

 

[4/8/2016 I got another smartphone with a better camera, snagit!]

Seeking Simplicity

I sat on the front porch a few evenings ago soaking it all in. (Soaking it all in means not looking at my phone / watching the comings and goings of neighbors / and admiring the birds.) And this day I had a special treat - an extremely young (still fuzzy) squirrel was digging about in our yard.

Really, it wasn't that peaceful - barking dogs, bumping stereos, frat-boy neighbors - but it was the most peaceful I have felt in a little while.

And I want more of that.

I rode the bike to work this morning thinking about that desire for simplicity. And I realized that the bike provides some of that. The gardening supplies some of that. Walking the dogs in the park supplies some of that.

So be watching for pics of bugs, frogs, weeds, veggies, and weird stuff in alleys. If you see some of that, know that I have found a bit of the simplicity. If not, swing by, kidnap me, smash my phone, and drop me in nature.

May you find some peace this week.