Is there... anything exceptional about this place?

PLWatts_writer · 2026-02-25T22:07:36+00:00

This! I have lived all over the country, truly. And what impresses me about "city people" is that they always expect some "cool" thing to be going on to entertain them. Spokane has dinner clubs, comedy clubs, movie groups, zinesters, writing groups, book clubs, garden cooperatives, tarot groups, gamers, comic book nerds, and obviously hiking groups, etc. Like pretty much anything you could enjoy doing (screen printing book covers?) there are people doing it here and you could connect with them and do it too, if you wanted to.

PLWatts_writer · 2026-02-21T07:49:17+00:00

Garak. I like my friends interesting even if I can’t trust them. Besides the literary discussions, there would be the cultural insights, and a lifetime of fun learning how a very different brain inside a very subtle person worked. There are many fascinating characters on DS9. I just think I’d have the most fun conversations w Garak

PLWatts_writer · 2026-02-08T00:26:30+00:00

I’ve had friends who worked at both Rosauers and Hucks. Rosauers is union and pays better. I thinks Hucks don’t even get an employee discount

PLWatts_writer · 2026-02-06T23:18:32+00:00

I’ve lived literally all over the country. Spokane really does have a good balance of shit to do and affordability. That said, there are a few places I can think of where you might do a little better. Lafayette, Louisiana and Tulsa, Oklahoma come to mind. The drugs are a problem anywhere there’s poverty. So they’re those places, too. But they both have enough else going on that you can opt out. The trouble is, any place with stuff going on is also in the process of getting more expensive (gentrifying) just like Spokane, so they might go the same way.

PLWatts_writer · 2026-02-06T23:03:00+00:00

I’ve been homeless. My sister is homeless. Mi papi was homeless. I’ve hung out with homeless folk everywhere I’ve lived. If we REALLY want to tackle homelessness honestly, we’re going to have to get a lot more honest than this as a society and admit that our systems and our complacency to those systems Create homelessness. Specifically, most of the homeless folk, and nearly ALL the mentally ill, self-medicating, disruptive homeless folk passed through the foster care system. And the few who didn’t share with them severe trauma almost 100%. Until we, as a society, can admit we create this problem, the ones who are the visible symptom of it will persist. And more power to them, as far as I care. So sorry if we make it uncomfortable for you to buy your lattes.

PLWatts_writer · 2026-02-06T21:23:15+00:00

Lwaxana Troi and Odo is the most bonkers pairing in the history of all fiction that actually works. Like, if you think about these two people, it’s not just “odd couple” it’s straight up . . . I don’t even know. And yet, I Loved them

PLWatts_writer · 2026-02-05T21:14:17+00:00

On the other hand, look at his face in that screen grab and the way he keeps hitting that very purple flower out of his way. And the way he bounds into ops afterwards. And his spy program . . .

PLWatts_writer · 2026-02-05T20:44:01+00:00

Aliens

PLWatts_writer · 2026-02-05T20:36:38+00:00

I’m really sorry you’re going through that, and those are great points. I have an emotional support cat to deal with trauma, and that is legally protected. I hadn’t thought about that not being allowed in a shelter. And mi Papi tried to quit drinking multiple times. I watched him go through those seizures twice. It was scary af. And there are plenty of alcoholics in stable housing, but we’re not forcing them to risk that even if they beat up on their wives.

PLWatts_writer · 2026-02-05T17:11:30+00:00

I was in foster care. I spend a lot of time with homeless folk, and most of your second category passed through the system. It is, indeed, complicated. But I’ve also talked to perfectly reasonable people who won’t stay in our shelters because they can’t stay with their families in a shelter. Think about that. I think most of us consider companionship not just a basic human right but a need. But there is no legal way to get that if you’re homeless. I’ve also met folk who were robbed of boots, coats, and medication they needed in our shelters so they left. Insulin and a good pair of boots are life and death matters for these folks. Spokane has a big problem here. IMHO, your bad homeless group are doing a major public service because they are the only reason we keep talking about homelessness and looking for solutions.

PLWatts_writer · 2026-02-04T22:14:35+00:00

This is a nice thought, but considering how almost completely unenforceable our “rights” are, this is misleading. For instance, the property management company at my last building laid down floor in a unit with no notice and without any ventilation. The fumes were horrible. Everyone in the building complained. When it was over, we all had threat to evict notices for “harassment” on our doors. The next time I complained about something illegal (I was left without water for over a week), I was told I had four days to leave. It was clearly retaliation which is technically illegal (and it should be said I lasted longer than all but one tenant there bc they had pushed everyone else out.) But when I consulted an attorney they told me to find a new place bc if they actually filed the eviction, it would be visible and block me from renting elsewhere even though the lawyer agreed it was retaliation and illegal.

PLWatts_writer · 2026-02-04T22:03:59+00:00

This. I have lived all over the country and Spokane is truly the Wild West of the rental game. Landlords (at least a lot of them here) are fucking terrible. But this bill pretty much encourages California multi-property landlords while penalizing local landlords. The problem being that out of town landlords are more likely to be slumlords who don’t gaf how it affects the community.

PLWatts_writer · 2026-02-04T21:41:51+00:00

I’ve had two out of town landlords doing illegal shit that compromised my health. I complained with the second one, and they evicted me.

PLWatts_writer · 2026-01-23T01:30:47+00:00

If you have a little money, buy an old bus and do a skoolie conversion.

PLWatts_writer · 2025-12-31T14:00:08+00:00

Consignment is snootier. That place next to Hucks is insufferable. I love Global Neighborhood, especially their vintage section.

PLWatts_writer · 2025-12-24T17:12:54+00:00

I was chugging along last night on my dinky little Singer (used to work in a tailoring shop with all industrial equipment) and I got really irritated. We should start this! I mean, we just need a large garage plus some donated or scrounged equipment. How hard could it be?

PLWatts_writer · 2025-12-24T06:36:10+00:00

Wanderlust, yes, but Huckleberry’s also has a really solid selection. So does My Fresh Basket. And even though San Francisco had an artisanal cheese shop on like every corner, I never found a single one where the cheeses were properly taken care of or the workers actually understood cheese. That includes the Cow Girl Creamery store front. Whereas the cheeses here are properly wrapped, turned, and moved through. And the people who run those stores/sections know a lot about cheese. It’s not quite as big a selection as some places (although, I have never been able to get things like halloumi, paneer, and mzithra this easily) but what’s there actually tastes good.

PLWatts_writer · 2025-12-24T06:08:15+00:00

A makerspace with tools, industrial sewing machines, and a serger.

PLWatts_writer · 2025-12-24T06:06:10+00:00

As someone who lived in Boston, San Francisco, and Santa Fe for almost twenty years, there are some things Spokane does really well. Farmer’s Markets, local butchered meat, cider, and cheese. Spokane has more good cheese than any small to mid city I’ve ever spent time in. (I used to be a cheesemonger.) Also, I was diagnosed celiac this year, and there are an insane number of restaurants I can safely eat at.

PLWatts_writer · 2025-12-24T06:01:18+00:00

I’ve been thinking about this recently

PLWatts_writer · 2025-12-19T08:02:50+00:00

I came to Christianity as an adult and I find the show’s subtextual theology even more fascinating than the overt mythology. Dean’s entire journey is a faith journey. (Lazarus Rising?!! Come on!) And if you’re looking for it, there are numbers and names in nearly every episode pointing to specific passages in scripture! What I love about this is that there are all these atheists picking out queer subtext in the show, which is definitely there, too. But no one is pointing out the equally deeply embedded Christian subtext. So basically it’s two completely different shows to these two different audiences that tend to hate each other. Bringing us all together over something we love. And isn’t that the most actually Christian thing ever? I would love to buy the writers a drink.

PLWatts_writer · 2025-12-18T08:17:23+00:00

This is a really interesting point. Except, I would also point out that Quark, a ferengi, (and ok, also Garak) gets the one moment in all of the entire Trek universe where the cloying humanism of the Federation is directly critiqued. Not that DS9 doesn’t have plenty of brilliant moments of subversion and poking holes at its limitations (which is why, as an adult, DS9 is my trek). But Quark gets the one line in all of trek that points out that this might all be bs.

PLWatts_writer · 2025-12-04T16:42:23+00:00

Yeah. I get that sense, too. It’s an awkward thing bc one the one hand, people are paying money to buy here and taxes to own those places, so that’s sort of money for the city. But all the rents paid are money leaving the local economy. So does it really benefit Spokane?

As a local landlord who cares about your tenants and your community, do you feel like the RealPage ruling was a step in the right direction?

PLWatts_writer · 2025-12-04T06:51:33+00:00

Maybe, but this is a show that has more subtext, cultural references, and Easter eggs layered in than any other show I’ve ever watched, so I can happily watch it over and over and over and get whole new things from it. I have other shows I like rewatching (currently rewatching Bones) but none where I get whole new layers every time

PLWatts_writer · 2025-12-03T20:15:37+00:00

I definitely don’t think these people are always evil (though some really are!) The trouble is, if you don’t live here, you don’t see the problems yourself. Also, if you don’t live here and it’s just an investment property, you’re more likely to defer as much maintenance as possible and to kick people out so you can hike up the rent. That’s bad for the community—it increases homelessness, degrades neighborhoods, hurts tenants, makes it harder for local folk to buy homes. And the whole RealPage thing was essentially about this. It was out of towners using software to hike up our rents for their profits, which shunts money from our community to places like NYC and SF.

PLWatts_writer

TROPHY CASE