United Airlines' Unfriendly Skies

I like to think that bicycle-friendly cities and establishments are met with admiration and appreciation. While businesses that put out dog drinking water bowls on the sidewalk may get the nod from dog-owners, bicycle friendliness is a progressive act with environmental benefits.
Prior to my last trip back to NYC, my bicycle gang shipped a padded bicycle bag so that I could ride again. LAX long term parking drops me off at United Airlines with my bicycle bag. So far so good. United Airlines charges me $175 to check in my bicycle—that’s for one way. That's more than the ticket for my seat. With my car miles away in a lot, I am stuck at the check-in counter with a bicycle. I can’t bring it back to my car or lock it up at the airport, but if I do bring it, it will cost me $350. As I’m calculating this crisis in my head, the mean old UA staff that issued the ticket harrumphs at me for deliberating my financial demise. He gives me the number for a courier company that might hold it over the weekend for a couple hundred bucks. A younger UA employee pitied me and talked to his pals in baggage that agreed to watch and store my bicycle for free. I tipped the nice young man enough money for a 6-pack.
Guess who else charges $175 for bicycles? Other shitty airlines that don’t give a shit, like Delta Airlines. It’s clearly a penalizing deterrent to justify bad service. United.com site provides links to Fedex encouraging you to ship your luggage ahead of you. Certainly more convenient for United but how is that more convenient for me? What’s a fair price? I understand most airlines charge $20 for each checked baggage. Bicycles with case should weigh less than 50 pounds but they are a bit more difficult to handle. I think $50 is fair. And so does JetBlue and Virgin America.
If United Airlines was a motorist, he would be an old curmudgeon in a polluting Pontiac clunker. Instead of honking and high-beaming at cyclists like motorists tend to typically do, he pins cyclists against a tree at the knees. Unsatisfied with the helpless nature of the cyclist, United pulls down the cyclist’s pants then has a sidewalk sale to sell salvaged bike parts from the wreckage.

Yellow Pages, "Little. Yellow. Different."

As print newspapers embrace and imitate the generic exit strategy of moving online, it is sad to see them go. While print may not be the most environmentally sound, the publication effects many families and the communities. Here's a brief list of prints that are flailing in the sea change of technology: Ann Arbor News, Asian Week, Bloomfield Free Press, The Bridge, The Capital Times, Christian Science Monitor, Kansas City Kansan, Kentucky Post, Rhinoceros Times, Tucson Citizen. Personally, in many cases, I just don't believe that there is enough content and useful information to fill a daily print issue. As such, papers are often filled with irrelevant ads and fluff. Turning the paper into "tabloid size" can only stave off extinction for so long.
My tilt today is not against newspapers but with the yellow pages, or super yellow pages, as it were. They used to stack of shoe box-sized phone books stack outside of my apartment building. This huge heap of phone books would seldom be taken into an apartment unit, usually by the old and digital illiterate. Then after a thunderstorm, the pile would turn into a heavy stinking pile of wet paper.
Prior to completely moving online, they forced their way into my home by shrinking the phone book into a 6x9 booklet (wrapped in plastic) that fit into my teeny mailbox. I must admire their thoughtfulness of only providing my with a "Midtown West: October 2009-2010" edition focusing on my local area and not all five boroughs. This little book is going straight to the recycling bin. They may have eluded death this year, but death is imminent.

Verdantic's Dream Car

Sometimes it seems that in order for something to be believably eco-friendly, it has to be ugly. Sure, there are beacons of beautiful eco designs, like Piano's California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Here's some ugly ones: solar vest, washing machine + toilet collabo and most of all, eco cars. Why does an eco car, electric vehicle or hybrid irrevocably have to be ugly or unsafe? Verdantic will be needing a car soon as I prepare my move back to California. Here's my car of choice: The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Stationwagen.
Here's some car dork mumbo jumbo:

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Turbo compressor

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1,968 cc 2.0 liters in-line 4 front engine with 81.0 mm bore, 95.5 mm stroke, 16.5 compression ratio, overhead cam and four valves per cylinder

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Diesel fuel

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Diesel common rail fuel system

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14.5 gallon main diesel fuel tank 12.1

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Power: 104 kW , 140 HP SAE @ 4,000 rpm; 236 ft lb , 320 Nm @ 1,750 rpm
- 2.0L L4 engine

Here's what I need to know about it:
- Turbo!
- 30 MPG city / 41 MPG highway
- Diesel and convertible to bio-diesel
- MSRP: $23,870
- Engine sounds like a real car
- Looks like a normal car

Dirty problem, Cleaner solution: Pee Poople

To calculate the number of pet dogs in a populated area, you divide the human population by 2.65 then multiply by .534. For New York City's 8 million, that works out to 1.6 million pet dogs. Let's assume 90% of dog walkers pick up their dog'(s)' daily shit. Assume some are crazy enough to pick it up with a newspaper. Some may use bio-bags as well. I could go on to calculate the number of unpicked up turds per city block in NYC, but that's not exactly the point. Point is, that's at least a million plastic bags a day. Banning plastic bags in this regard will be a tough sell. I can't imagine President Obama picking up Bo's poop without plastic.
Meet the Peepoople. They developed a biodegradable bag to help sanitation in Africa. The bag serves as a toilet but when buried, it provides organic fertilizer for improved soil structure. Perhaps this innovation could help NYC reduce trash and enhance urban farming and gardening.

HOGWASH: Marylhurst University's Online MBA in Sustainable Business

Blogger's foreword: I love school. I encourage everyone to take any opportunity to learn something new. That said, I was intrigued by this banner ad on treehugger today:
Marylhurst University's Online MBA in Sustainable Business
What's not to like?
1: Why go to classrooms when you can learn at home? Networking is a huge part of business school. If it's 100% online, you can avoid the awkward alcohol-infused social events intended for business networking. Experiencing the throes of presenting a gaudy group clusterfuct powerpoint in front of your peers is a must.
2: Not sure if executives at Fortune 500 companies love hearing from business-minded whistleblowing employees with 18-months adeptness in the following areas of expertise: renewable energy; public policy; green development; and natural and organic resources. 18 months of evening online eco-discussions won't make you a scientist--a verdanticist at best.
3: Being in the first graduating class of any program from any school will be frustrating. Accreditations from the NWCCU or the IACBE don't mean anything if only 4th-tiered schools are on the lists. Plus, I thought the MFA was supposed to be the new MBA.

Transportation Fatalities

Trivia: What transpired during the first automobile accident in the United States?
Answer: In 1896, the first U.S. automobile accident occurred in NYC where a car hit a bicyclist.
After hearing about what happened on the Metro in DC where at least 6 people died in a train collision, it may evoke some hesitation to riding subways and trains. Per year, 800 people die in train accidents. Although that may seem like a shocking figure, rail workers--not passengers--make of for the majority of the 800.
It's a little shocking, but less than 800 cyclist die per year. I expected a higher number. As opposed to a train passenger, a cyclist may have some control over his/her fate by wearing a helmet, being more alert and following traffic rules. By contrast, 35,000 people die in car accidents every year.
To put these number into perspective and the actual likelihood of death, the number of miles traveled should be taken into account. Clearly, airplanes are the safest with 200 deaths per year and a chock-full of miles. Between bicycles and cars, if we compare the 800 and 35,000 deaths to the number of miles traveled, that being 6 billion and 3 trillion respectively, cyclists are 11 times as likely to die as motorists. Adding to the odds against commuter cyclists, two-thirds of bicycle fatalities happen in urban areas.
I'm going to end this downward spiraling circular logic and arrive at some conclusions. I'm not going to stop riding my bike--not now, in fact, most bike deaths happen between June and August. Riding a bicycle can help riders stave off heart disease, America's greatest killer. The asshole in a Hummer is probably safest if it doesn't flip over. No one said verdancy is the safest way to travel, but I do have a heightened appreciation for the Subway. And when I'm behind the wheel of a car, I hope I never face the odds of killing a cyclist.

2009 MLB on FOX Broadcast schedule

I'm not going to lie, but there's nothing verdantic about this post. Taking a nap while watching baseball out of one eye on a flatscreen is not the best use of energy. Could be worse, I suppose, but it is--personally--my favorite American past time.
FOX paid billions for all of the Saturday baseball games. It blacks out all televized broadcasts, except for one game per zone. Unfortunately, the larger market teams get aired most often, for obvious reasons of viewership and revenue. If I had to guess, it's most likely the Yankees playing some other overpaid team. This post is a helpful reference for Saturday matchups.

2009 MLB on FOX REGULAR SEASON BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs

Atlanta Braves at Arizona Diamondbacks

Minnesota Twins at Tampa Bay Rays

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Philadelphia Phillies at Los Angeles Dodgers

Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox

Minnesota Twins at Seattle Mariners

Saturday, June 13, 2009

New York Mets at New York Yankees

St. Louis Cardinals at Cleveland Indians

Chicago White Sox at Milwaukee Brewers

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Tampa Bay Rays at New York Mets

Los Angeles Dodgers at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Milwaukee Brewers at Detroit Tigers

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Boston Red Sox at Atlanta Braves

Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Arizona Diamondbacks

Saturday, July 4, 2009

New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies

Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins

Oakland Athletics at Cleveland Indians

Saturday, July 11, 2009

New York Yankees at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 – 8:00 PM ET

2009 MLB All-Star Game

Busch Stadium – St. Louis, MO

Saturday, July 18, 2009

New York Mets at Atlanta Braves

Baltimore Orioles at Chicago White Sox

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Oakland Athletics

Saturday, July 25, 2009

St. Louis Cardinals at Philadelphia Phillies

Minnesota Twins at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers

Saturday, August 1, 2009

New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox

Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves

Houston Astros at St. Louis Cardinals

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees

Texas Rangers at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves

Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks

Cleveland Indians at Minnesota Twins

Saturday, August 22, 2009

New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox

Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Dodgers

Saturday, August 29, 2009

New York Mets at Chicago Cubs

Tampa Bay Rays at Detroit Tigers

Houston Astros at Arizona Diamondbacks

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Boston Red Sox at Chicago White Sox

Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians

San Francisco Giants at Milwaukee Brewers

Saturday, September 12, 2009

New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies

Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals

Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins

San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers