Highway to the danger zone

Previously, I touched on the issues with Fessenden and how they contribute to making Portland a non-livable place for my family.  Due to speeding traffic and no marked crosswalks, I only cross it with M in off hours (Sunday morning at 7) when I am confident I'll be able to safely navigate the stroller.


An article on OregonLive today highlights the problem and the recommended solutions as proposed by a committee.


But as the advocates for the neighborhood point out, the proposal 1)doesn’t go far enough and 2)isn’t funded.  I’m skeptical anything will happen to truly alleviate the traffic and reduce the danger.


Besides, the proposal focuses mostly on industrial trick traffic.  It’s not just trucks, it’s everybody.  Cars, trucks, busses, police cars and bikes all race past as we stand and wait to cross.  Sometimes one driver will stop to try and let us pass, but the other lane of traffic continues to whiz by and eventually the stopped driver will give up. 


I see only two real solutions:
1.  Install traffic lights, forcing drivers to stop every few blocks.  I would be willing to have a little longer of a walk to use a signaled crosswalk.  Plus, eventually this would make Fessenden an undesirable through-way option for drivers.
2.  Have police officers placed every few blocks and site the drivers who speed or violate pedestrian right-of-way laws (after all every corner is a crosswalk, just enforce ORS 811.028).


However, I recognize both are long shots due to the current state of Portland's budget and the minimal sway many in the neighborhood hold (as outlined in the article) with the local government.  Alto


When I moved to St. Johns, I loved it.  It was perfect for blissfully, fervently single and childless me.  I was three miles from my office, close to downtown, halfway between sister #1 in the West Hills and sister #2 in Vancouver, and a straight shot out Highway 30 to my parents’ home.  And, best of all, the library, shops, the Farmers’ Market, yoga & Pilates at the community center, grocery store and yummy restaurants were just a one mile walk from my front door.


Walking alone, I found Fessenden annoying and troublesome, but now that I have M, I recognize how dangerous it is.  I have no idea how we would teach him traffic safety when there is no safe way to cross this street.


We're lucky that Pier Park is within walking distance.  We don't have to cross Fessenden to get to it and it's a beautiful park.  However, we're cut off from all the St. Johns' town center area has to offer.


As much as I wish it were otherwise, I keep coming back to the same conclusion.  Living in Portland is not a long-term, raise-a-child option for us.

Max Monkey and cigarettes

It’s a typical afternoon in the Singleton-Ratcliff household.  I’m working and B is looking at a book with M.  M is pointing at various items in the pictures and B talks about it, things like, "Max Monkey has a ball.  It's a yellow ball.  Oh look, over here he threw the ball to his friend. Nice throw Max Monkey."

Then I hear …

B: “ ... and here’s Max Monkey at the beach with cancer.  Here’s the sand and shells and a bucket ... ”

Me: “cancer?”

B: “Yeah. No sun hats, no Zinc, nothing, it’s ridiculous … we may as well be showing him 7-year-olds with cigarettes.  Hooray, a day at the beach with cigarettes.”

Me: “uuhhhh … “

He's not joking.  B takes sun protection very, very seriously.

Well, of course, you say ... after all, his profession is health promotion.  It's his job to tell us how bad the sun is for us.

You would think that.  But it's more than a side-effect of his career.  It's a life-long passion.  According to B's older brother, he took on the Australian model of smart sun behavior at about 9-years-old and never let go.

When I was growing up, we had "tanning lotion", not sun block.  Somewhere around my early 20s, sun block came into fashion.  In my 30s I heard advertising for moisturizers and foundations with sun block "to prevent wrinkles caused by the sun's damaging rays".  But, as far as I can tell, the US smart sun behavior is about 20 years behind Australia's.

Why?

I assumed they had higher UV index and greater risk to sun damage leading to cancer.  But, looking at the charts, this isn't true.  They're almost identical (just flipped vertically since we're on opposite sides of the equator).  In fact, the risk today in Portland is higher than Melbourne.

So, since no one else is giving you this information, I will.  Here's a sample of the education Australians receive from the time they are wee little ones:

Protect your skin
For best protection, SunSmart recommends a combination of sun protection measures:
Slip on some sun-protective clothing - that covers as much skin as possible
Slop on broad spectrum, water resistant SPF30+ sunscreen. Put it on 20 minutes before you go outdoors and every two hours afterwards. Sunscreen should never be used to extend the time you spend in the sun.
Slap on a hat - that protects your face, head, neck and ears
Seek shade
Slide on some sunglasses - make sure they meet Australian Standards
Extra care should be taken between 10am and 3pm when UV levels reach their peak.
For information on how to protect your skin from sun damage, see SunSmart.

Can you imagine if sun smart behavior was emphasized in public education as much as anti-tobacco efforts? 


**Update (May 12):
B: "I've taken a texter (Sharpie to you and me) to Max Monkey.  Soon everyone will be wearing a hat."


**Update #2 (May 15):
So we've had a "Very High" UV index in Portland for a few days now.  My efforts to persuade my coworkers to stay covered and shaded from the sun have been met with mocking.  Apparently, I'm an overprotective mother hen type now.  C'est la vie.  You can mock me as long as you still cover up people.

Noise cancelling

For a project about three years ago, my nephews' teacher asked his class to ask their extended family and parents' friends to send them postcards.  She wanted to get a collection from across the county and maybe even a few from other countries.  


He asked me to send him one and to ask B (still in OZ at the time) to send him one.


After he left the room, my sister said he would be over the moon if we could do it for him. He wanted to get a lot of postcards and impress the class.


I said I'd ask B and his family & friends and put it out to my network.


I asked a few people directly, then thought, why not put it out there on Twitter and Facebook and see what comes back.  I wrote one post for Facebook and tweeted it once on Twitter ... and I was blown away by the response.


Postcards poured in from almost every state in the US and from Australia, Norway, Thailand, England, Spain, Mexico, Canada, France, Guatemala and on and on.  They all read, "Dear G ... " and made one little boy feel very special and important.


When the teacher asked my sister how G did it, she said, "Oh, that's his aunt. She makes things happen."


That was three years ago, when my SoMe networks were smaller and very few people had even heard of Twitter.  So, when my brother-in-law posted that he was advising a group of fifth graders on their project to use Facebook to create awareness about landmines and asked people to "like" their Facebook page, I thought to myself "self, this sounds like a job for 'Auntie Pam', it's time to take it to the network. Easy peasy lemon squeezey."


I asked people on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to support the students in their project and "like" their page.  I wrote a blog post about it.  Then I sat back and waited for the "likes" to roll in à la the postcard project.


Tick, tick, tick ... then nothing.


What? What went wrong?  Clicking "like" was soooo much easier than buying a postcard, writing a note to a third grader, getting postage and dropping it in the mail.


I have a few theories:
1.  I've put out too much noise to my network and they've stopped "listening" to me.
2.  Too much noise in general dominates the SoMe space and very little actually rises above it.
3.  People have become more skeptical about philanthropic requests coming to them through their social channels.  A consequence of charity burnout.
4.  People are more discerning and more stingy with their "likes".
5. ?


How has your engagement through SoMe changed as general population usage has increased.  What do you do to filter out the noise coming at you to get to the messages you want to receive and don't want to miss?  And how do you rise above the chatter to connect with your audience?

The threat you don't know

A neighbor recently posted this sign (left) on their fence.  

We didn't even know they had a dog.  Let alone a possessed one (demonic possession assumed from the glowing red eyes of the dog on the sign, which the picture I took doesn't give justice).  We've never seen it.  We've never heard it.  And we walk by the house often.

The men in my life don't like to loll around the house and walks are an almost daily (sometimes twice daily) activity.  We walk to the park, the library, baby gym, or to the Mexican bakery or the farmers' market to get a little treat.  M has become used to dogs running up to the sidewalk as we pass and barking at us (he cried a couple times, but usually ignores them now).  The path to all these destinations passes by this house and we've heard nary a peep (admittedly, my personal knowledge is limited to evening and weekend walks, but B says they've never heard/seen it during weekdays either).

B argues it's the most effective "Beware Of Dog" sign he's ever seen.  It's simple, scary and official.  No burglar would want to dance with that dog.

It has me wondering about several things.

1.  What did this dog do to merit an official "devil dog" sign complete with glowing red eyes?  Did it bite someone?  Is it a requirement of owning a particular breed?  The lack of evidence of a dog at this house leads me to believe it is an incredibly well trained dog, but, sheesh, the sign conjures up images of some scary behavior. 

2.  Who at Multnomah County designs their signage and decided the image of the dog should imply demonic possession?

3.  How does one teach a child about possessed dogs?  Meaning, how does one teach a child about the threat you don't know?  And, how do you do it without making a child afraid of everything?

Finding Bliss

I live on Bliss Street.  The street name held great sway with me when considering buying the house.  I mean seriously, how could anything too terrible happen on Bliss Street?


I like bliss.  I like happiness.


You know what makes me happy (other than the name of the street where I live, of course)?  Championing organizations, causes and events I think are important.


Here are the ones I currently support and would love for you to support them, too.
Beaverton fifth graders raising awareness to ban landmines
The Peninsula Wrestling Club
Bradley Angle's Wine Women and Shoes
American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study 3

A global issue, tackled by 5th graders

From my brother-in-law:

I am principal of an international school. Our fifth grade students do an end of the year final project called the Exhibition. Groups of 3 or 4 students are mentored by staff member as they research a global issue and take some form of action. The group I mentor has selected landmines as their global issue. The action they are taking is to use Facebook's social media power to encourage the United States to sign the Ottawa Treaty. The United States already uses an internal ban on landmines, but by joining the other 159 counties that signed the treaty we can set an example for the rest of the world. Please take a moment to review their page. Like and share the page if you are supportive of eradicating the use of landmines. Much thanks in advance for your help with their project!

 The kids' Facebook page to like, share, etc., as you see fit.

It's all about me

So, you know how my husband is amazing, right?  No?  Well, he is.


A couple weeks ago, expressed concern (see lectured) me about spending too much time on work, baby, AMA, ACS, other commitments and not enough time doing things just for me.  He encouraged (see lectured) me to make more time for myself.


I admitted he was right (see vehemently disagreed, slept on it and changed my mind) and made a list of things I would like to do.


1.  Join a book club.
2.  Take a cooking class (either learn how to make pastries, Indian food or Thai food).
3.  Take a design class (I muddle through okay, but I don't like being just okay at anything).
4.  Re-enroll in Pilates (or Yoga).
5.  Take a baby and me class (maybe baby and me Pilates or Yoga).
6.  Take swim lessons (my swimming style can best be described as not drowning).


I showed B my list.  Some items were praised (Pilates, swim lessons), some were frowned upon ("A baby and me class would be wonderful, fantastic, do it, but it doesn't count as something just for you).  I decided I would start looking immediately for a book club to join.


Then I hit a road block.  I couldn't find the kind of club I wanted.  I had this image of talking with people smarter than me about nonfiction books that dissected theories of communications, business, personal-professional development, culture shifts, big ideas.  Maybe I was looking in the wrong places, but I just couldn't find it.


I asked a few people (smarter than me) if they had heard of such a book club.  None of them had.  But, all of them thought it sounded interesting and something they would like to do, too.


I mulled it over.  If that was the book club I wanted (and I did), I needed to launch it myself.  So I did.


I went through my LinkedIn connections and invited about 20 people (smarter than me) that I thought might be interested in such a thing.  In less than 24 hours, I had nine "yes" responses.


Whoa, it was actually happening.  Now I needed to actually do it.


I set up a group on LinkedIn so we could collaborate on the plan.  

We've already selected our first book (well, I already had the book in mind ... happily, everyone else is on board with it), Imagine: How creativity works.


I. Am. So. Excited.  It's like I've got my own Vicious Circle full of wit and wisdom.  And, I am all in.


I have no idea how this will go ... I've never done anything like it before.  But, I'll keep you posted on what I learn from it all (even if that is I have no business starting a book club).  If nothing else, I'm going to read some inspiring books and talk about the ideas in them with some inspiring people.


And that is just for me.