Does Joe Biden Stand a Chance?

I like Joe Biden. The Senator from Delaware has some interesting things to say. Besides being interesting, he’s running for President. Does he have a chance? The longtime Senator from Delaware looks solid when doing interviews and he puts out tough (and sometimes brash) quotes. It appears that he had a quote regarding Obama that got taken a little out of context. He made a reference to Obama essentially praising him, but said something about Obama being a clean, storybook candidate. The “clean” reference got some people offended. I got the gist of it and it really wasn’t a racist comment; people are really looking for something that isn’t there. I think we’re splitting hairs being that the guy was giving a true compliment. But that’s beside the point. The media likes Biden because he’s a good interview. But did he wait one election too long to run? With the likes of Obama, Clinton, and Edwards, the Democratic pool is quite full. Believe me, I like having choices and I think it’s good for the country to have numerous people to choose from. But does this Senator stand a chance? I personally am not so sure that he does. But, I do think he would round out a ticket as a VP candidate. He’s experienced, knowledgeable, and savvy. Sometimes he comes across as a politician (not a good thing) and a little confrontational. But, he has good things to say. Let’s see how things go. The race only becomes more interesting.

CNN

Business News

Is there or is there not a housing bubble? I’ve heard reports of soft landings, future drastic drops in demand and price and the typical doom and gloom. Unfortunately, all of these experts are contradicting themselves. Which leads me to the question, “Who’s right?”. And if you’re not right about something as big as this housing bubble, are you an expert to begin with? It just goes to show that so many so-called experts are nothing more than people with an opinion that happen to be a little louder than the next person. So what to do? I think ignoring the noise may be the best possible solution for most people. Thank God for mute.

Mass Transit Needs

Traffic has sucked around here lately because of all of the highway construction and changes. A small price to pay for improvements so I try not to get too pissy about it. But what does bother me is that it really does seem like many in Western WA want more mass transit. And although there are some options, it's just that, some options. It's impossible for me to go to work via bus or Sounder if I wanted. I'm sure it's the same for many others out there who may work in an area other than downtown Seattle. My question is, why isn't more being done? I get it that Sound Transit has this board of executives who are reviewing everything and that there is a budget that confines them to some degree. But this is one of those things that I think people would pay for if they knew that they were getting a useful, quality product. Unlike a road tax where you don't know where or if that money helps road construction or maintenance in their area, if people could vote on train routes or bus lines, I think people would be more inclined to vote yes. Maybe once or twice a year, a vote is put forward on maybe five or six new mass transit options. The voters get the price tags and timelines for completion and debates are held discussing all of the merits of the options. Somehow if something more comprehensive was presented to the people, I think that we would have more options and mass transit sooner. To the detriment of us all, I feel like the voter is being underestimated on this issue both in sense and financial generosity.

Poor Health Care for the Poor

I was reading an article written by Kyung Song in The Seattle Times today discussing the lack of adequate dental care for the poor. It was quite distressing being that in the most powerful, wealthy, and prosperous country we still cannot give adequate health care and dental care to our own needy. Thankfully, addressing health care is becoming a more visible issue with both political parties attempting to come up with solutions. What worries me is the idea that politicians can come up with a quick fix and not a real solution. I don’t think that there is a system in another country that we can take and mimic just at face value, but I do think that there are models out there that we can observe. The answer will have to be custom and uniquely American to address our unique needs, but nonetheless, the answer needs to be on the table in the very near future.

The Seattle Times

Blog Features

Just to give you the low down on some of Hilltopia's features. The Chatterbox in the right side scroll bar area is a pretty cool widget you can use to leave random messages that have absolutely nothing to do with any of the specific posts. The Google Search Bar allows you to search for Hilltopia articles using keywords. It also allows you to search the web using good ol' Google.

Week Ahead

This week is Super Bowl week. All things football (or slightly related) will be blown out of proportion. In politics, the presidential hopefuls will probably be stumping everywhere. The question is, can we keep track of all of them? And, in Iraq, it just sounds like more bad news after the grim news. Quite the hornets nest, we'll see how it proceeds. Maybe it is time for the Iraqi government to step up and try to quell some of the fighting. A dire situation that appears to have a less than happy ending.

Hotels Galore

I just read a pretty interesting article in The Tacoma News Tribune (click below). The article summarizes the different hotel projects planned and in discussion throughout Tacoma. It is interesting to read about all of the different possible projects. One of the questions I had was the possibility of over-saturation. There seems to be quite a few projects on deck. Not that there is a definite problem, but if Tacoma has had only a few hotels in the past (and done ok), will so many new projects coming open create too many options for too few visitors? Just a question to ponder as we go growing along.

The Tacoma News Tribune

Healthcare

The President is working at making changes to healthcare in the US. But can there be a real solution to healthcare by tinkering with a system based on employer benefits? We are the only major country that provides healthcare in this fashion. One of the obvious problems is the issue of employers reducing coverage because of cost. So what happens then? And with the nature of jobs changing in the US, how do we accurately predict where healthcare will go in the future? I'm not so sure that there is a real fix until we look at a blank template and start from there. America is ready for a New Deal again and I think it would be worthy to include healthcare in that package. For that matter, mass transit, fair taxing and education reform would be good to include as well. Some things just aren't working as well as they should be. Our politicians should recognize this and instead of applying patchwork politics, promote real innovation and change.

MyBlogLog

For those of you who blog or are into the blogging scene, I wanted to point out MyBlogLog. Many of you are already familiar with what it's about and how it works. So this is mainly for those who are new to it. MyBlogLog is a community site for bloggers and those interested in it. You can find all sorts of blogs and sites that you may not have stumbled upon otherwise. There are other sites that pretend to be somewhat communal, but this one really has lots of great people and lots of interesting sites to check out. I've found that the vibe on it is great and that most people are very helpful and encouraging. So, if you have a blog and want to show it off, or you just want to connect and see what other people are doing, I would highly recommend it. Use the link below to get there. And again, tons of stuff, info, sites and people to see.

MyBlogLog

Recommended

Sometimes I get asked about certain things that I really like. So, instead of rambling continuously, I figured I would occasionally start up a conversation on things that are worth recommending. I think you get the idea, so tell everyone what you are recommending. Ok, something that I really dig is my iMac. I have an iMac G5. It's a newer Mac with the Intel Dual Core Processors. Essentially it can run most PC stuff too. The Mac really is a far departure from a PC in many ways. The way it feels when you work with it, the way it reacts (and in many cases, doesn't react poorly), the way it updates itself, the way it reboots and so on. Pretty cool machine, you begin to see why people get so fanatical when talking about their Mac. I think the Mac feels a little more like an appliance whereas a PC feels more like a business application. I think both are still necessary, but if you can go the Mac route, you may be very surprised and pleased in the end. And even if you don't get a Mac, visiting an Apple Store is always very fun.

Housing Slowdown

There have been numerous reports that housing sales have slowed in the region. But, there is no indication that sales will greatly suffer heading into 2007. Sales will not be at levels seen in the past few years, but they will remain positive and steady. A sort of sustained, steady, slow growth. I think this is good for a few reasons. There may be more deals for those looking to invest. Many unwise, speculative investors may have already bailed from the market. Inflating prices will not drive sales to any type of bubble. Tacoma as a whole can step back and reevaluate where we are going and what is really needed (besides assuming that the need is for more vanilla flavored condos or flipped houses). Investors and developers can use this time to become more creative and offer the public something other than the typical fare offered in the past few years. With Tacoma having architecturally interesting buildings along with beautiful views/landscapes, developers can and should do more to add interest to the area. I don’t think it will be enough to simply build. There are too many projects currently available that do that to a tee. It also won’t be about granite countertops and fancy bathrooms; not all of the time anyways. I think people want something that creatively reflects what is in or a part of their local environment. For instance, housing and commercial spaces that can uniquely showcase Tacoma’s character (both past and present). That creativity will stand out and be rewarded both in positive public opinion and with voting dollars.

Gym

I’m thinking about getting some home gym equipment. I have a gym membership, but there is no gym in downtown Tacoma or Hilltop. So, I figured it would be nice to have some good equipment that I can use when I don’t want to drive to my gym. I’ve observed a couple of things thus far in my search. First, home gym equipment can either be really cheap in price and quality (usually they coincide). Second, really nice home gym equipment can cost what a used car costs (and sometimes more). Why is there such a disparity? What if someone wants a good setup consisting of one piece of cardio and one piece of strength equipment? And, to top it off, what if that person wants good quality at a reasonable price? I mean really, Bowflex sells two adjustable 50 pound dumbbells for approx. $300 (and without the stand!). Are you telling me that Bowflex is barely breaking even on producing this piece of equipment or that this is somehow reasonable? You would think they were trying to prevent people from working out. I also saw an adjustable dumbbell bench for $200. We’re talking about a flat bench that can swivel upward. I would be embarrassed to tell someone the price of that stuff and still try to keep a straight face. This all leads to one thing. The home gym niche is ripe for someone to come along and blow all of these ripoff artists out of the home gym waters. Are you telling me that I can spend a couple hundred bucks on crap or $5,000 for something that I would want to use? Someone can do better than this and I’m anxiously awaiting to see the results. I won’t feel sorry for the losers in this upcoming battle either. By the way, if you have any recommendations on stores or equipment, let me know.

Benchmarks, Great!

CNN.com is reporting that John McCain is suggesting benchmarks to measure progress for the Iraqi government during the war. Gee, benchmarks to measure success? Revolutionary! Why is it just now that we're talking about benchmarks? Shouldn't this have been a part of the discussion, oh, a few years ago? I still get disturbed when I see politicians trying to use logic after the fact. In the private sector, this is a tool that would have been suggested by someone in the planning stages of whatever big initiative was being proposed. Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that Sen. McCain is suggesting this, but c'mon, we're a day late and a dollar short on the common sense in Washington. Next, politicians should begin a class discussing how to work with a budget.

CNN.com

Second Home

With so much development going on in Tacoma, I thought about all of the condos and the prevailing thought that many of these condos will be a second property for many families. I'm a middle class guy working his way up through the ranks, but honestly, I don't know that many people that have more than one home. I know people that have a few properties, but I'm talking about someone that calls two different buildings home. If you were going to own a second home, where would it be? Would it be somewhere pretty close so that you could go there and relax during a long weekend? Or would it be somewhere warmer or more exotic? Or even still, would you just own two homes (like Tacoma and Seattle) and stay at the home closest to where your work is for that week? Help me understand this because I'm not sure if I know what people do with two homes or a second home per se.

Edgar gets into the M’s Hall of Fame

Edgar Martinez will be inducted into the M’s Hall of Fame. Certainly the MLB Hall of Fame will call for him soon after. When I think about Edgar, I think a great time for the M’s and a great time for Seattle sports. Edgar is what is right about sports. The best DH of all time was a hard-working perfectionist who was excellent, humble, understated and a great citizen. Edgar is all of those and then some. There weren’t headlines about Edgar getting arrested or ripping his coach a new one in the press. He quietly hit the hell out of the ball and lumbered his way to greatness. When I reflect on his career, I think about how excited the state was when the M’s put together some of their great seasons. A great baseball team in the most beautiful place in the perfect summer season playing in a beautiful park (or rowdy concrete dome) is what baseball is all about. It’s easy to forget about baseball with the Super Bowl looming, but it becomes easier to remember when I think of all of the games I’ve been to with my friends watching Edgar, Randy, Ken, Jay, Dan and Lou (if you’re an M’s fan, last names aren’t necessary; you know who I’m talking about). It’s never been the same without Edgar stumbling his way to first base. And the ads, can anyone forget his rendition of “geoducks in Puyallup”? Pure vocal artistry…Anyways, if there’s one guy who I enjoy watching getting his just due, it’s Edgar. “Geoducks in Puyallup”, I absolutely love that.

Week in Review

Wow, what to say about the week in review? Politics is a continuous debacle, the economy is moving along (although it appears Ford is tanking further), and everything else appears the same as it was. Not much happened in sports, we know who's going to the Super Bowl now. This little period for sports (in my opinion) is a little dull. After the Super Bowl, we're not at March Madness and baseball isn't beginning quite yet. Not that baseball or pro hoops will matter, the M's and Sonics both suck. So what the hell is going on? Not much, it appears we're in a holding pattern until spring.

State of the Union

How did you feel after hearing the State of the Union Address? I admit, I was eating and talking during most of it. But, from what I can tell, it appears that all of the politicians are a little leary about the way things are going. Republicans are careful not to appear too chummy with the President and Democrats want to appear dignified, but willing to work with Republicans wanting dramatic change. It's an interesting time in politics. Was it just me or did it seem like half of the room was filled with presidential candidates? I thought the response by Senator Webb (from Virgina) after the President's speech was very good. Senator Webb appears to be someone who I'll like in the coming years. A strong Democrat who appears to be concerned about the middle class. Senator Webb has been known to be an "Andrew Jackson Populist" who views the health of the country not by the successes of the upper class or business class, but by the middle class. That is a far departure from the Republican viewpoint on economic health or the general health of the country. Another really interesting fact about Senator Webb is that he actually worked for Ronald Reagan during his presidency. Who knew? I know that the State of the Union Address is really a lot of political banter and a presidential wishlist, so I'll reserve my judgment for actual political and civic results or outcomes. I'm glad that we're also beginning to turn back to something of a domestic agenda. With so much focus on the war, I think the domestic issues have gone unattended. Not that the war is unimportant, but there are matters to be tended to here as well. Now about that war problem that's developed...

Good Food

This past week I had the chance to eat at two really good ethnic restaurants. If you're in the neighborhood or around Tacoma, you'll have to stop by. To start off, I'm really into going to unique places for food, so I was quite happy. The first restaurant is Gateway to India on 6th Ave. That place has such unique foods that it's a small adventure just going there. The garlic naan and chicken dishes are awesome. The food is great and the atmosphere is usually good since the place packs out. The other place is It's Greek to Me on 6th Ave as well. It's Greek to Me even has a drive through so you can get a gyro or sandwich and hit the road. The place has some really good chicken gyros, so feel free to check it out. And, it's a quick stop so you can get something and get back to what you were doing. By the way, what was I doing? Well, those are my two recommendations, so stop by and have a bite.

Gadgets

With the iPhone, Wii, PS3, and everything else out there, what really gets you excited? Some of it, none of it, any of it? As cool as the iPhone looks, I think there could be even more improvements. There could be more emphasis on games and gameplay. With a machine like that, cool games would definitely be fun. And the ability to play someone wirelessly with the phone would be cool too. As far as the game consoles go, they look pretty good but there still isn’t a killer game that really shows off the hardware. And what’s with the hassle of trying to buy the stuff? If you have the money, why is it so tough to buy these products? There’s crowds, lines, waits, pre-sales, etc., etc. I wish these companies would figure out that many of the people who can afford this stuff don’t have the time to waste putting up with the extra hassle of making the purchases. And, can we just make a console that can have the guts replaced when there is an upgrade? Why do I have to buy an entirely new console that’s a different size and color, and, has to find a place on my shelf with the other stereo, video, and game equipment? To buy any more of this stuff is going to require some furniture upgrades too. It’s getting to be too much work to make these purchases. Since when did making an upgrade become such a pain? And what if a company found a way to take the pain out of upgrading? Would you buy? You probably would. You would buy just on principle (and exasperation).

Tacoma Changes

With Paddy Coyne's opening up on Pacific Avenue, the area down by Drake's is certainly beginning to pick up. Now, there are a few choices for food and drink. The Matador is very busy every time we go there or drive by. And if you haven't gone yet, it's certainly recommended. Good food and drinks for sure. Meconi's is definitely a fun place as well. You can almost walk all the way down Pacific Ave. now and have something interesting or fun to go to on every block. Big improvement from just a few years ago. I don't think there's a coffee house that stays open late in downtown Tacoma, but hopefully one is on the way. But overall, the time spent on Pacific Ave. is nice. Get there and support the local businesses in downtown Tacoma.