Richmond (11/19/2014)

Working in the center of Richmond can always result into some excitement, especially during my lunch-time walks.  On Wednesday their was a climate/clean energy rally on capital square and I took these photos while looking at the proceedings.

It was kind of ironic that is was about the coldest day of the current fall, temperatures were 10 to 20 degrees below normal, and I am sure it probably fueled to fire of some of the climate change deniers.  Yes it was cold, and that is exactly what is predicted by researchers on climate change.  I've seen right wing pundits on TV telling me we are going into an ice age and all kinds of other propaganda.  The Washington Post has an interesting article on what's going on (see my link above), and during my dentist visit, I found an article in Scientific American (December 2014 issue) that describes the Polar Vortex in great detail.

I am sure that others will try to find fault with discussions on climate change/global warming, but so be it.  I do not think there is one climate scientist who would be be upset if they are proven wrong; who would want to see/experience global warming.  These same people that question global warming are constantly talking about the economy and want to protect those same children and grand children from the mounting debt (which is not proven either), but then turn around and question global warming.  I rather be safe than sorry.  I am just amazed that people are willing to play chicken with their future and the future of their children and grand children in both cases.

I really think this is a sign of the times.  We have liberals and conservatives and they are so entrenched that a compromise is not possible any longer.  We have a bunch of congress men/women and senators in Washington who's mission it was "to make Obama a one term president", and when that did not work, they are fighting everything the democrats propose.  This is followed up with a push back from the democratic party, and compromise is gone.  It has become of fight of principals instead of a fight for what is good for the country and the people living in it.  I really think this lack of compromise; the disrespect for education and educated people (educated elite) or rich people; the rise in college costs; and the shrinking of the middle class are going the be the downfall of our country and turn it into a third world country that much like Russia is only noticed when it flexes its  military muscle.

Oh well, enough politics for today.  If you are a regular reader, you I do not politic that often.  But if you are interested, just open the labels tab and look for the keyword politics and you'll find a few more posts).  Guess the energy demonstration did that to me.  This group consisted on people against the proposed pipeline, clean energy people, people for sustainable energy, global warming people etc.  A diverse group, and hopefully a group with a variety of political leanings, a true compromise; although I doubt it.

Richmond (10/29/2014)

The one nice thing about working downtown in a larger city is often the sheer choice of places to eat lunch; although, there seemed to have been less choice when I started working in Richmond 5 years ago.  Yes you still have your Wendy’s, Hardy’s, Subways and Quiznos, but I think I have seen other places open, and then also, there has been an explosion of food carts.  Your choice is amazing, from an Indian food cart, to authentic Mexican tacos, to a Thai cart, a cart with more gourmet-like tacos, to carts that serve all kinds of wraps and salads.  It is really neat.  Contrast this with recent fights they had in Newport News about the placement of food cart placement.  I really wish there were more, as long as they are safe; but that is probably self regulating at least when they don’t kill their customers.

Regular readers of this blog know that I love to go for a walk during lunch time and I am always amazed by some of the big lines at these carts.  It is the social place to be; every so now and then on my walks I run into people I know.  They are patiently standing in a line at a cart and it is fun to talk to them for a bit.  Other times, the people standing in line take up more than half the sidewalk and it is difficult to walk.  But then on the sidewalk on the other side of the street are all the smokers and that’s a pain as well.   Breathing in secondhand smoke has been moved from the work/office environment to the environment where people do their lunch-time exercise or wait in line at food carts.  Somewhat ironic I would think, and it is the reason why I often escape to the park along the James River, or I walk around capitol square.  I need my walk and very often my Starbucks fix. 

Finally, another thing that is fairly common on the streets around lunch time are the beggars.  It is a shame that we still have people that need to collect money on the streets.  There is a lady who sells wilted roses, a guy without legs and your assortment of beggars that sit on the curb smoking cigarettes.  Being an ex-smoker, I do not think I would give to smokers in support of their habit, over food.  Others may say that giving them money support their begging habit and makes them lazy (see the article by Robert Reich that I reference below).  But so be it.  It is just sad to see that in a country as this there is still such a discrepancy in income or maybe a lack of income for some that people still need to beg.  It is a harsh reality, and it still makes me feel uncomfortable seeing them.  It amazes me too that there is such a lack of compassion and empathy (see also the article by Robert Reich).

Anyway, this is my entry to the weekly challenge by Cee Neuner.  This week’s challenge was to photograph feet.  Maybe not the best picture, but all these people are waiting at one of the favorite food carts in the area.  I like to take a picture at the time the challenge comes out.  This is not my best, but it shows what I meant when writing about the carts.  Actually amazing that everyone has their own space in this photograph and that there is obviously very little interaction going on in line.  To me everyone appears to be lonely in a crowd.

Richmond (6/24/2014)

The weather is still unbelievably nice for this late in June.  Temperatures at home are in the low 80s or in European terms in the high 20s centigrade (my blog has a lot of visitors from Russia and Germany).  In Richmond it is a bit warmer, but still very bearable.  People you talk to mention that sooner or later “we’ll have to pay for it.”  While I do not think the weather gods act like that, we all know that weather is all about averages and that over the years these averages have been going up.  So yes, the statistics tell us that we will have to pay for it; although I do not think that is the reason we called it “sadistic” in grad school.

Anyway it was just nice to go for my lunch-time walk.  Downtown Richmond is a great place to get some exercise and clear the brain fog.  I either walk along the river or try to hit Capitol Square.  Going to Capitol Square you see all kinds of things: lunch carts, beggars, street musicians, business women and men, and yes a lot of government employees. 

Yesterday, the steps of the Governor’s mansion were full of people for a photo-op.  Today there was just a black SUV parked in front of the steps.  The Governor was either on his way out or in, probably a good thing.

Politics in this state are a mess; very much like what is going on in Washington, DC.  There is just too much polarization and too little cooperation and compromise.  It still amazes me that ordinary people allow politicians to do this, basically to their long-term detriment, but to the benifit of their deep-pocketed donors.  Oh well.

So my walk today took me to capitol square, where I took this picture.  It does not symbolize anything; I just thought it made a pretty shot.  It was just nice to get out.  And yes, I had sun screen on!

Library of Virginia in Richmond (4/16/2014)

An article in the newspaper got me steaming today.  It was about how conservative USA (read Grover Norquist and the Koch brothers) are trying to stop the use of alternative energy and selling back of home generated energy back to the power companies.  Honestly, I think the newspaper was trying to fill some space, since this appears to be old news.  A simple search for Koch and renewable energy or solar energy shows their opposition to it for at least the past two or three years.  Guess they don’t like the government subsidies and the fact that there are laws requiring energy companies to buy back the excess energy that is generated at home.  I’m really nor that sure why they are against renewable energy.  Is it affecting their income as share holders in energy firms?  Or is it a principle, in that, energy conservation has been championed by more liberal thinkers and democrats, so it must automatically be bad and opposed?  I am still confused why those people who want to protect our children from a future deficit, have no problem in saddling those same kids up with a warmer planet, more polluted air, energy shortages, rising energy costs and a higher cost of living. 

So I was still steaming during my lunchtime walk in the sun (it was a great day to harvest solar energy).  It was abnormally chilly today, but it actually felt invigorating.  Walking up the hill at the capitol I noticed a saying on the Library of Virginia: “Reason and free inquiry are the only free agents against errors, …”  This saying is attributed to Thomas Jefferson, and it rang so true this afternoon.  We hopefully will use reason and inquiry before accepting everything that we are told, be it from conservative or liberal pundits. 

In full disclosure; I am the proud owner of two solar arrays that I will be installing on my sailboat, partially as an experiment, but also to be more self sufficient and less dependent on an outlet to charge the batteries on my boat.

Richmond (4/8/2014)

My lunch time walk in Richmond took me too capitol square.  It was a nice afternoon and the beds were freshly planted with pansies.  The tulips had not yet started blooming.  It was nice to see the crowd on the capitol.  There were people enjoying their lunch time, the regular walkers (including me), and a lot tour groups mostly consisting of school children.  It is one of my favorite lunchtime destinations, with grassy lawns, plants and sculptures.  Even the capitol and the governor’s mansion give of a vibe of history, the capitol having been designed by Thomas Jefferson (1788) and the mansion by Alexander Parris (1813).  I used the HDR setting on my cell phone camera to take this picture.

 

 

Richmond (11/19/2013)

Realizing this is a very low resolution photograph, I did want to post it.  I went for a lunch walk today to the state capitol and the preparations are already ongoing for the inauguration of our next governor, approximately 2 months from now.  It seems a little early, but I guess that’s probably the time they need.  It is amazing to think that the opponent of the governor elect has an office that looks down at the preparations.  That must be a sore/frustrating site for him to see.  In other news we learned today that the previous looser in the election for governors was stabbed and is in the hospital in critical condition.  Terrible, hopefully he will be fine.

Richmond (7/2/2013)

Capital square.  I tend to go there for a walk almost every day when I'm in Richmond.  

Richmond (6/28/13)

Statue of Edgar Allan Poe on capitol square.