Seattle Sonics back to School

Long ago, during the Franco-Prussian War, raiders from Oklahoma came to Seattle and took away our beloved basketball team.  Now the old Sonics are attempting to play under the pseudonym “Thumper” or something.  Trying to make it seem like a whole different team.

Also years ago we had an earthquake.   Earthquakes happen over and over again.  Kind of like acne.  Not real popular.

Scientists and scholars put their heads together and came up with a novel notion: “If it’s happened before it’ll probably happen again” is what they decided.  That was after years of study.  Sure enough it happened again.  Scientific people think about lots of things like this.

Once the engineers got hold of that information they began endless analysis of everything they had already engineered.  The result was that they announced that maybe millions of structures are at risk of crumbling to dust during earthquakes.  Except that most earthquakes are fairly localized (in California, for example) so lots of these risky structures will probably be Okay.

One result of this hysteria is that building codes and laws have been updated to require earthquake survivability.  Here’s where school comes in.

Determination was made that most of the old school buildings did not meet these earthquake requirements and must be replaced.  We’ve been replacing schools, libraries, hospitals, and car washes for many years.  Everywhere you look there’s a new school where an old one used to be.

One of the premier schools in the Greater Newcastle Metro Area is Bellevue High School.  They just opened the new earthquake proof version.  Amazingly it contains a basketball arena that can hold somewhat under 100,000 fans.  OK, maybe not that many.

Another development recently is that this guy from Seattle, who now lives in California, wants to get Seattle an earthquake proof pro-basketball franchise.  He bought some old warehouse buildings in the south part of Seattle near the baseball and football stadiums.  Together with several local citizens he wants to build a new arena and buy a team.  We also need a hockey team for some reason.  Maybe there aren’t enough fights in the other sports.

People in Bellevue have also been trying to figure out how to get a pro basketball franchise.  They picked several secret sites and began ruling them out one by one.  The conclusion was that Bellevue probably won’t get a team.

But wait!  We just built a new high school with a gymnasium.  Why not let them play there?  Most NBA Arenas hold under 100,000 fans.  We could steal the Nicks or the Clippers.

One resounding result of all this loose talk is that many local people are pretty excited.  They expect a new team momentarily.  The loss of a pro sports team is a traumatic event, similar to an earthquake.  Except that to recover from the loss of a pro sports team only requires the acquisition of a new pro sports team.  Many people in Seattle already own a green shirt (soccer).  Just tell us how to find the new arena and here we go!

Issues have to be resolved first.  For example nobody will build a new arena (the HS may not be acceptable) until there’s a firm commitment for a team.  We can’t get a firm commitment to obtain another team unless we have a world class arena.

The other big issue is that some people think it’s OK for the tax payers to help fund this new arena.  See, here’s the thing: way back when the grifters were working out how to sneak our team out of town one of the big points was that Seattle would have to make the existing basketball arena bigger.  There have already been upgrades and there was a great resistance to pay for yet another one.  It has probably reached the upgrade limit.  The alternative is to build a whole new one.  That costs money and nobody wants to spend it.

This leaves us in the same position.  Trying to figure out how to get the money and commitment to build a new arena while simultaneously securing a commitment for another team is really tricky.

The fans are chomping at the bit for a new team.  My solution is to buy one of the NCAA college teams.  They want to play in the NBA anyway, so why wait?  Include the coach and cheerleaders in the deal.  While we’re waiting for them to graduate we could be building an earthquake proof arena.  Mean time our new team could continue to play in the college arena. They’d be rich enough to pay someone else to take their classes.  That way they could devote all their time to pro basketball.

Now all we need to do is figure out which team to buy.  It would be rather efficient to buy the Washington Huskies since they already play in Seattle.  But those are details for the rich folks to work out.  I’m just the idea man.

 Al

Been Away for Awhile

Fort Worden with Mount Baker in the background

My last post in the Rapid Transit Saga was way last year.  My excuse for not posting is “family comes first.”  So please forgive me.  I think the Mayans are behind it.

I missed almost every bowl game in January 2012.  The result is that I have no idea which college players are worth drafting.  Never thought the Seahawks would compare favorably with the Colts.

At about the same time I found out my three sisters were coming to visit in February.  This is good news as they live way off in the blue states.  Maybe I can improve their outlook.  We only get together once a year so this year is special. I’m going back there this summer (maybe) which will make it two times in one year.

Here at Lake Boren Rapid Transit Data Central we have hundreds of sophisticated state of the art computers.  Way last summer I had a miraculous breakthrough and the balky laptop finally decided to accept the inevitable.  It joined my home network.  Inexplicably right before the arrival of my sisters that laptop suddenly refused to accept any internet connection.  “Internet device not found” or some such “Windows” error message.  Great timing.  Why did it wait until 2012?  The Mayans.  That’s the only answer.

My sisters arrived as scheduled and we began a two week tour of the vast office complex here at Lake Boren Rapid Transit Headquarters.  That lasted a few minutes.  We went to the Doll Art Museum in Bellevue (sisters).

Road trip took us to the Yakima Canyon where we spotted a few wild birds and other varmints.  The trip eventually got as far as the Central Washington Ag Museum in Union Gap.  That’s where intrepid farm equipment enthusiasts have built a world class environment to display hundreds (probably thousands) of agriculture related items.  Then it was on to the back country.

The next venue was the Great Highway 410 slide which buried part of the road and caused the river to take a new channel.  Not a common site in Indiana.  So as expected one of my eastern sisters fell victim to the rugged west and twisted an ankle.  She’s OK now but the limp lasted the remainder of the visit.

Elk Feeding at Oak Creek

We stayed at the home of good friends and quilting was one of the main topics.  All of us had a terrific time and we were entertained royally during our visit to Yakima.

 We returned home only to find that the Tivo had rebelled.  After several years (this should be a hint) of flawless service the box has become inoperative.  There must be a trend among my electronic devices – first the laptop and now Tivo.  What’s next?  Anybody know a Mayan I can ask?  But I have a house full of guests so no time to deal with broken stuff.  Just compartmentalize the problems and move on.

The next road trip took us to Port Townsend.  The Victorian homes and forts made into parks are quite interesting.  There is also plenty of shopping.  Lots of shopping.  We had a great lunch.  Indiana doesn’t have State Ferries either so that was unique.  Did I mention the shopping?  Yet another nice Western Washington day in February.  Amazing.

Following the visit to Port Townsend we decided the next day would be a good time to visit the Glass Museum in Tacoma.  Lots of glass.  The gift shop had more than the museum and it was all for sale.

Next the crew loaded up the heap and headed toward Long Beach.  That’s in Washington, in case you don’t know.  Their two main attractions are cranberries, oysters, and kites.  OK, three.  Oh, and the world’s longest beach. Four!

So far the weather had been excellent.  We had lots of sun and unseasonably warm temperatures.  Terrible ad since we really don’t need more people out here.  But it was great for traveling around showing the sites.

While at the ocean the Mayans struck again and a second sister twisted an ankle.  Must run in the family.  At least no electronic devices quit during that trip.  Now I have two limping sisters.  The Wild West is just too dangerous for Indiana people.

At this point we went to visit the Schoonover Farm in Skagit County.  There were an amazing number of swans grazing in the fields.  The snow geese flock is enormous.  Numerous eagles greeted us as well as several hawks and smaller birds.  The farm is very interesting with various sheep, goats, chickens, and other hairy things.  They have a road side produce stand.  We said hi to the dogs and got a tour of the fiber room.  Donna has a complete operation in which she takes fibers (wool mostly) from animals and it eventually ends up as garments.  My quilting sisters were fastinated.

Boots were donned and we went to visit the barn yard.  Some of the sheep and goats are friendly and some are not.  The geese didn’t seem to like anyone but they didn’t bite.  It was feeding time which was also very entertaining.

We returned to the safety of our palatial home and the next day I planned to have a nice dinner at one of the world famous Seattle eating establishments.  The goal was to show these folks that Seattle (the Greater Newcastle Metropolitan Area) has some of the best food in the country.  What a surprise: a third sister got food poisoning.  Three out of three felled by the rugged conditions here in the Wild West.  She’s much better now, too.

What’s left but to load them on airplanes and send them back where they’re safe?  Maybe the Mayans don’t know where Indiana is.  Or Texas.  I’m not real sure myself; somewhere back east maybe.

Result: All three are safe in their homes recovering from their visit.

The Tivo actually had a disk failure which is the fault of the disk manufacturer, not the Tivo people.  I ordered a new Series 4 and it arrived yesterday.  It has more storage and faster processing (if you believe that… well you know).  Anyway, I got it set up and now I have TV again.

The problem with the laptop was the protection software.  It’s the very large program that keeps malicious viruses and spyware from clobbering the computer.  It decided to take matters into its own hands and clobber the computer itself.  Did I expect anything else?  Anyway, it’s fixed now.  The Mayans are losing.

OK, during the tour I showed the sisters Newcastle and Lake Boren.  Yes, they really exist.  We saw the library under construction and even caught a glimpse of Glen’s floating TV antenna.  Quilt shops were involved along the way.  We saw the farm in Sedro Woolley (yes, it really exists) and rode Ferry Boats.  We saw the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge before it’s replaced and we saw the Alaska Way Viaduct.  We saw the Space Needle and the Monorail.  We even spent a morning wandering and shopping in Pike Place Market.  We tried to see the Freemont Troll but all the streets to it were being worked on.  Or maybe it was the troll being worked on.  Or have the Mayans started there?  Anyway, no dice.  Except for the injuries these folks seemed to enjoy the visit.  I expect everyone in Washington to pitch in and make the place safer.

 Al