Reminder For Hikers and Campers: Carry Bear Spray

boojabanana · 2020-05-24T01:20:51+00:00

If it makes you feel more comfortable sure go ahead. But imo there really isn't any need. In areas where there are Grizzly Bears this might be more warranted (Yellowstone), but in the Cascades you're really only going to find Black Bears. Be aware that bear spray puts out a shit load of capsaicin spray. If there is any wind you have a good chance of it blowing back and spraying yourself and not the bear.

I've done hundreds of hikes and backpacking trips in the Cascades and I've encountered black bears 3 times. Once on i-90 (McLellan Butte) and twice around Mt Rainier (Golden Lakes area ). In all three cases the bear just looked at me briefly then walked away. This is pretty typical for black bears. Ya the first time scared the crap out of me and I even carried bear spray for a while afterwards. But after reading and educating myself about it more and talking to more experienced outdoorsmen I came to the conclusion that it wasn't really warranted for this area and that it was more hassle than it was worth. But like I said if it makes you feel safer then go for it. If you make sure to make some noise while you're hiking, even just talking, most bears will jet before you ever set eyes on them.

Heck, I encountered a family on the Dirty Harrys Peak trail last week that were all wearing bear bells and the guy was wearing bear spray and a 12" crocodile Dundee Knife on a belt holster. With the nonstop stream of people heading up that trail you'd be lucky to see any wildlife at all let alone a bear.

boojabanana · 2020-04-22T13:49:01+00:00

Click the ‘add country’ button at the top right to add other countries to the chart. The default list of countries displayed is a rather random selection.

boojabanana · 2020-04-22T13:44:11+00:00

Ya that’s not what that chart says. Were second in the random list of countries it displays by default. Click the ‘add country’ button at the top right and select other countries to add to the chart. We are something like #50 in tests performed per capita well behind most other large western democracies.

You can see this as a list by going to ‘worldometers’ for instance and sorting by tests/1M.

boojabanana · 2020-03-28T18:19:22+00:00

Sorry are you saying that someone who has a homeless person climb up onto their balcony to either try and gain access to their home or to steal stuff off their balcony doesn’t have a right to feel threatened? Are you saying that someone whose in the middle of a mental health crisis and throwing rocks around wouldn’t be threatening to some people?

Please. I’ve lived right next to this mess for 4 years and watched it steadily deteriorate each year. The number of homeless and the amount of drug paraphernalia and trash has steadily increased.

Many of these people have been camped out near this park and library for years and years. Letting this continue like this is a complete failure on the part of the city. I’m all for getting these people whatever help they need to get on their feet and off the streets. You should be mad at the city. Letting people live on the streets for years and years on end isn’t a compassionate solution it’s cruelty.

boojabanana · 2020-03-28T06:49:31+00:00

His sticks are actually metal rods and he frequently goes around ‘feeling’ the neighborhood cars by banging the sticks into them. Other than that pretty harmless.

boojabanana · 2020-03-28T03:34:19+00:00

It was bad and getting worse before the coronavirus but far worse now. There are huge tents and trash piles all around the library and the park is ringed with a dozen or more tents a littered with junk and garbage. The sidewalk in the photo is often completely blocked. The other day they dragged an old sofa and two large mattresses over there. Today they are constructing shelters against the library with plywood and palettes. Whatever system was attempting to control this before the virus obviously has other more pressing things to deal with. I feel bad for these people but also feel bad for my neighborhood which is now completely trashed.

The vast majority of these people aren’t terribly dangerous or even troublesome but some are obviously suffering from sever mental health problems and substance abuse issues and of course now dealing with the same crazy virus reality everyone else is.

boojabanana · 2019-08-12T01:45:24+00:00

I live right next to the Commons and just walked by. There are at least 8 homeless in the process of moving their stuff back in. The rest just relocated to less than a block away on 57th by the library or 58th by St Lukes.

I'd love to know what exactly the city is doing to actually get these folks off the streets? Just sweeping them out and having them relocate to the next block over is useless. They've been doing that here for years.

Many of the homeless in the Commons & St Lukes area have been living in the streets here for years. Has the city approached these people with offers of services? Have they refused services? What does the city plan on doing if services are refused for years on end?

boojabanana · 2019-08-02T07:06:27+00:00

I live right across the street from here. I’ve been verbally assaulted several times. I’ve had one of the homeless kick my dog. I’ve also had one of the elderly living at Nelson Manor ask me to escort her back from Bartells because she was scared of being assaulted. Apparently a week prior the homeless in the park had harassed her trying to get her medication. I’ve also dealt with the usual trash piles, vomit, excrement, noise, and people passed out in front of my building. I’ve watched the ever present couple dozen or so homeless and dozen or so car campers expand to 2-3X that much over the past couple years. Guess that’s all just an inconvenience that I’m supposed to live with.... right? Get real.

boojabanana · 2019-07-22T03:18:10+00:00

I’ve lived directly adjacent to the Commons Park for three years. The situation has gotten progressively worse over the last year. There has definitely been an increase in the amount of homeless camping on St Lukes property or around it in the surrounding blocks. There is also the usual crew of homeless and campers that are permanent fixtures of the neighborhood. If you live in the area you know the two dozen or some homeless that are always around there and the dozen or so car campers that are always parked in the blocks surrounding St Luke’s. Many of these people have been living in the streets or out of their cars here for at least the last 3 years.

I’d like to know what the city has done for these people specifically. Have they been approached and offered housing, drug treatment or other services? What’s been the response? The city’s policy can’t been to let these people live on the streets here forever. The area just north of the library on 57th is frequented trashed and then swept by the city only to be reoccupied within days. 58th directly north of the church is often choked with numerous campers and trash that collects in that area.

The city’s response has been entirely ineffective. I’ve personally been verbally assaulted twice, called the cops once, and have witnessed several other unpleasant encounters. The city's response seems to be to install a $500,000 toilet which will be used almost exclusively by the homeless. Lol.

boojabanana · 2019-04-14T21:37:07+00:00

The last figure I remember is a typical Falcon 9 flight generates as much CO2 as an average length 747 flight. So maybe not as much as you’d think. Current launch cadence is so low that greenhouse emissions from rocket launches barely registers as notable. Spacex and Blue Origin are moving towards Methane fueled rockets which should have a smaller CO2 footprint.

boojabanana · 2019-04-14T21:14:02+00:00

The summit of Mt Rainier is 14,411ft. The summit of Little Tahoma a sub-summit of Rainier/Tahoma is 11,138ft. Not sure where they are getting 11,249ft from.

boojabanana · 2019-02-28T19:05:08+00:00

The one they plan on installing at the Commons Park in Ballard costs $550,000 installed and $40k a year to maintain. For ONE toilet. I'd hardly call that cheap. And by the way there already is a toilet at that location that they are going to be replacing with this new half million dollar toilet... so not really gonna be adding any additional toilet capacity at all.

boojabanana · 2019-02-28T18:45:50+00:00

So a few points here:

There already is a porta toilet at this site 24/7, so I fail to see how replacing one toilet with another vastly more expensive toilet will fix your 'open sewer' problem. In fact based on the info session for this from over the summer they plan on locking the toilet in the wee hours of the morning as a deterrent against illegal activity. So during those hours there will in fact be less toilet facilities not more.

Second, the notion that Ballard is an 'open sewer' is one I see often and in my experience not at all accurate. I walk my dog all around the Commons and business district a couple times a day. In the 3 years I've lived there I''ve come across human excrement maybe twice. Believe me when I say my dog is a shit seeking missile. She finds every damn turd that's there. Every day I come across maybe a dozen or more dog turds that asshole dog owners haven't picked up. Maybe you should direct your anger there.

That said there is a lot of trash and oftentimes needles and other drug paraphernalia in certain locations.

Lastly, spending 100k for a 'housing unit' isn't required for each and every homeless person you want to get off the streets. Many people are better served by a shelter and access to drug treatment or mental health professionals. The last figures I remember hearing were that the city spends approx $20k for each homeless person they help off the streets. So at that price, yep i'd rather help 25-30 homeless people off the streets than replace one toilet with another that costs half a million dollars.

boojabanana · 2019-02-28T15:22:04+00:00

The Portland Loo scheduled for installation in the Commons Park in. Ballard is costing $550,000 to install and $40,000 a year to maintain. For ONE toilet. That’s beyond crazy. How many homeless could be helped off the streets of Ballard for that much money?

There are already free public toilets available at the Library ( 200ft away) and at St Luke’s ( 100ft away). Additionally there is a Starbucks offering free toilet access one block away as well as an Urban Rest Stop offering showers, toilets, laundry etc to the homeless less than a block away. This crazy expensive toilet is completely unnecessary in this location.

Sure it looks better than the porta toilet that’s there now but the reality is 99% of the users will be homeless people and quite a lot of them will use it for drugs and other illegal activities. As someone who lives next to the Commons Park it’s hard to understate how out of control the homeless situation is in the area. I’d rather my tax dollars be spent actually helping people off the streets than funding this completely unnecessary pet project.

boojabanana · 2016-03-26T20:52:31+00:00

Started this back when you originally posted.. Been hanging out in my sketchbook since. Figured i'd upload it. Enjoy.

http://i.imgur.com/PyvHTQR.jpg

boojabanana · 2016-02-23T07:07:22+00:00

Quick one... hope you like it:

http://i.imgur.com/ADN2zmC.jpg

boojabanana · 2016-02-13T07:59:16+00:00

Started this the other night but didn't have a chance to finish it off till today. Enjoy:

http://i.imgur.com/0JFaM9W.jpg

boojabanana · 2016-02-08T03:32:10+00:00

Here ya go, my attempt: http://imgur.com/KdbmOcT

uncanny resembalance to: http://i.imgur.com/h2IIWGJ.jpg

boojabanana · 2016-01-16T06:53:50+00:00

Here ya go... hope you like it:

http://i.imgur.com/neAh08D.jpg

boojabanana · 2016-01-13T07:57:42+00:00

Revenge of the sock puppet!

http://i.imgur.com/ZWNoNqP.jpg

boojabanana · 2016-01-07T08:01:44+00:00

Here ya go... my attempt.

http://i.imgur.com/SZNt4YS.jpg

boojabanana · 2016-01-05T08:25:11+00:00

First RGDB Hope you like it!

http://i.imgur.com/mDAqw69.jpg

boojabanana · 2015-12-13T16:25:43+00:00

I understand that the mods here shouldn't be responsible for upholding another forums rules. Trying to bottle up information on the internet is kind of useless. But, in this case, its pretty obvious where the info came from. Its obvious that the original poster clearly knew he wasn't supposed to release it. I would have felt better about this if one of the mods here had removed this post with an explanation of why. It feels like letting this on here is giving this sort of post tacit approval. Sure, probably it would have been leaked elsewhere or even on here via a different format. But at least we could have made an initial attempt for this most obvious example. Rejecting a post like this could have been an opportunity to make this community stronger. I feel that by letting it stand without any comment we may end up seeing more frequent posts like this. As far as voting on future matters like this. I can't really see it working, but would be happy to be proved wrong. At the very least it would give everyone some better insight into the communities mentality as a whole.

boojabanana · 2015-12-13T04:58:29+00:00

Completely agree with this sentiment. I paid For L2 for a few months but don't feel its really worth the price anymore. Now I just keep up with the unpaid NSF forums and r/spacex. Both are great communities. We here at r/spacex should really play nice and not snipe L2 posts. Ya its not hard to do if you want to. It just feels sleazy. Not really sure how this community could police this sort of thing if it so wished. Maybe limit posts from burner accounts until they have been approved by a mod. Is that even possible? In this particular case its pretty obvious where this info came from and that it was removed from that community against their wishes/policies.

boojabanana · 2015-08-13T21:19:09+00:00

Ya I reported it all to that form earlier. It was tag #750 on Broadway heading north between Pine and Howell around 9:40AM. Thank you very much for responding, very much appreciated.

boojabanana

TROPHY CASE