Will Shaver’s Blog

Submitted to the RG on 6/2/2010.

It was with high hopes that we elected Obama, expecting sweeping changes. His motivational campaign speeches inspired crowds of thousands. After decades of presidential mediocrity perhaps we could have a president who inspires greatness.

We now face the most devastating ecological disaster in generations. As black death continues to pour onto our shores we have had no presidential challenge, no inspiration to change our ways.

It is not for their campaign speeches that great presidents of the past have been remembered, but rather for how they responded and inspired as president during times of crisis. “We choose to go to the Moon” “a date which will live in infamy” “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”

As our earth warms and our economy crumbles we are in desperate need of game changing inspiration followed up with decisive action. The clock is ticking and we’re down but not out yet. Obama, don’t waste this crisis. Here, I’ll start your speech for you:

“Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. … America, now is not the time for small plans.” Barack Obama, 8/28/08

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Today I was heading back to Minneapolis after a successful few days in Iowa on the job. Spinouts and flipped cars littered the side of the road. I couldn’t resist snapping a few pics of the Bud Light branded vehicle that was overturned.

Perhaps there was some sampling of the goods?

And of course, I couldn’t resist making a de-motivational FAIL pic out of it.

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Found this cool website: eugeneareaparks.com that I thought I’d share. Cool way to find out about little known parks near home!

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So there’s this really progressive city in North America, who’s leaders have realized that electric cars are just round the corner. So they’ve installed plugs in the parking lots of the airport, hotel, and office.

Plugs in the blue boxes at the airport.

Plugs at the very budget Comfort Inn.

Plugs at the office where I was working.

So where might this mystical city be that has ALREADY installed plugs everywhere? Regina, SK. (And Yorkton SK)

The plugs are actually for block heaters as it frequently gets to 10 (F) below during the winter months here. But regardless of original purpose you’re looking at a great test-market for electric vehicles. (Although you’d want a block heater on the battery pack, which isn’t unheard of either.)

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I’ve been traveling far too much for work lately. Add to that my travel for swing dance conventions and I’m just not home enough. Eugene has so much to be proud of, so much that I would want visitors from out of town to know about when they first arrive. And how better than a billboard at the airport? Like this one:

Motorcycle riding [check], canoeing [check], listening to a black musician [if we're lucky]

And other cities have a lot to be proud of as well. For example, Reno / Lake Tahoe has adopted the same strategy of announcing its virtues to visitors. Like this one:

Apparently that motorcycle riding couple really gets around!

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A few months back I purchased a Volt electric mo-ped from zero-e-motors. It took a while to get the paperwork through the DMV as they hadn’t sold one to someone in Oregon yet. But that’s all been settled for a while, and today I broke 250 miles.

The bike goes about 34mph if I’m on a strait stretch for a while. It has a tough time with any kind of hill, so my routes to and from places end up going through more neighborhoods than they would if I were in a car. I get passed illegally almost every day. I’ll be doing 28 in a 30 zone, and somebody will swing across a solid yellow line to pass me. Generally only to stop at a signal a few feet down the road.

It’s certainly made me much more conscious of how I drive my car, how fast I accelerate, how much I can maximize coasting etc. I’ve also noticed that Eugene is not a very motorcycle friendly place. Bike friendly perhaps, but motorcycles are the third-class citizens here. Better signage on all free-to-park spots, more free on-street parking, and more acceptance of riders.

On the acceptance of riders front, earlier this month I parked on street downtown (legally) and when I returned to my bike hours later someone had picked it up and moved it onto the sidewalk. (It weighs about 300lbs so it was probably quite a pain to do and required multiple people.) I’m just glad I didn’t get a ticket for parking on the sidewalk!

Did you know that while the UO has on-street motorcycle parking, in order to park there you must buy a permit?

We’ve got a lot of work to do…

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“In many cases, people hold apparently contradictory beliefs: that the state should protect land for farm and forest uses, while also supporting an individual’s right to use land without government interference. It is important to understand that these contradictory values are not the result of different factions or special interest groups disagreeing with one another; instead, they are internal conflicts within many Oregonians.”

– Big Look Report

I’m firmly in the “internally conflicted” camp myself.

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Zicam Medicated Spoons
“Virtually tasteless when added to any beverage”
Shaquille O’Neal
“Virtually short when standing in any crowd”

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Spicy foods are my vice. At most restaurants I frequent I debate ordering the Hot and the Extra Hot. Over at Laughing Planet sometimes I’ll ask for a second helping of their fantastic Habanero salsa. I’ve found that when I visit the Midwest the Hot at various Thai restaurants is about at the level of Medium on the West Coast. In Eugene waiters will ask if you want hot sauce, or how hot you want the dish. In the Midwest you’re lucky if they have any hot sauce other than standard Tabasco.

Back in December of 2008, my voice started to do weird things. It was weak, and completely lacked a high range. It felt like there was a large lump in my throat and swallowing felt funny. This throat problem may have been related to a rather nasty orange-snot-inducing sinus infection that I came down with after returning from Japan. Really, it was traffic-cone orange.

I did what most men do when faced with a debilitating condition: I ignored it, and continued life as usual. But it didn’t get better. Eventually I went to the doctor who referred me to a specialist who dropped a camera down my nose. Turns out my left vocal chord had decided to stop working. Fortunately it was stuck in the closed and therefore deep voice position. So next was an MRI to make sure I didn’t have a tumor of some type.

A week later, I had the privilege of wearing a gown, getting an Iodine injection and spending few minutes in some strange machine right out of Star-Trek. A few days later it turns out that I’m human and don’t have a tumor. But just to get a second look around, we’ll drop the camera down your nose again. That is after all what we do around here.

So then I was referred to a Vocal Therapist. (Note: The ‘R’ in Therapist is not capitalized.) She asked me about my voice, how it started, what had happened to me, etc. She didn’t know what she could do for me but told me but I could try avoiding spicy food, eating at night, soda, and anything else that tends to annoy throats.

Turns out that after avoiding spicy food, cutting back on soda, and not eating at night for a week or so my throat got dramatically better.

So spicy foods are now officially a vice, and I’m cutting back. Seems moderation is a lesson that I’m being forced to learn over and over lately.

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First an excellent photo of a shirt that resists Satin. I’d probably rather have a Satan or even a Stain resisting shirt instead.

This weekend I’m attending a dance contest in Washington DC. I’m pumped to go and dance, then go and explore the city. Apparently the dance event has a purple theme on Saturday night so I spent some time in a mall looking for a purple shirt that fits me. Finding clothing that fits is always a challenge, but today it seemed especially so. I have the double whammy of being both 1) tall and 2) not fat. This generally causes me some problems when locating long sleeve shirts as I can either have shirts that fit my arms or fit my waist but not both.

To avoid this disaster I was trying on short sleeve shirts and was simply astounded by how rotund one must be to fit in an extra large shirt. I attempted to put on a “Large” shirt and it was too tight in the shoulders but I could easily have fit a rather full grocery bag up the shirt. The extra large was still a bit tight in the shoulders but had so much room in the belly even Santa would have been asking for a fitted version.

Also of note was the complete lack of other customers in the store. Isles of marked down items and no buyers. Not a good time to be in retail.

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