By guest contributer Rose McMayhem; Another perspective on Christmas

Written by Randy Corman 7 Comments

I wasn’t raised in a church, and certainly didn’t lament this decision; friends who had to be picked up early on Sunday after spending the night found no envy from me. My parents- raised in low-intensity Christian households- were lax churchgoers in their younger lives; they were married in a church but had few close ties to it. When the time came to decide whether they’d impose religion upon their offspring, they declined to do so.

I liked the idea of believing in god when I was young, but beyond that didn’t give it much thought. I was more prone to telling wishes to my worry dolls and leaving them under my pillow than turning to prayer. In high school, I realized that the whole concept of religion didn’t make sense to me. By college, I was certain there was no creator.

Some people might think my absence of faith molded me into a heartless heathen; some might even accuse my parents of denying me a relationship with god- neither is true. My life is guided by a set of values that I think anyone would agree are fair and decent: I’m a loving sister, daughter, and girlfriend who values kindness and endeavors to treat others with respect. I’m also certain that regardless of my parents’ decision, by virtue of who I am I would’ve come to the same conclusion about religion, so their actions are without fault.

Whether or not you agree with my standpoint is immaterial. If others choose to believe in a deity, I have no desire to take that away from them. I am not here to debate truth and reality, as there’s no end to that maelstrom; I’m here only to comment on my experience as a nonbeliever during the holiday season and to enlighten anyone who thinks it means nothing to me.

What I have chosen to believe clearly does not exactly jibe with the Reason for the Season. This wasn’t something I ever found particularly hypocritical until my boyfriend, a long-lapsed Catholic, brought it to my attention. When he gave up religion, he gave up everything that went along with it- including Christmas. As a result, he thinks it’s silly for non-religious families to participate in Christmas. This is a sentiment that I understand, but do not entirely agree with- it’s a logical conclusion, but not a necessary one. Having spent each December 25th of my life gathered around a Christmas tree with my immediate family, I’m not inclined to forfeit the tradition, rational though it may be to do so- and the reason is that while Christmas holds absolutely no religious meaning for me personally, I very much enjoy it on a social scale.

Heresy, right? Not quite. Just because I don’t celebrate Jesus’ birthday doesn’t mean I don’t still enjoy the holiday and hold it up as a unique occasion to gather with loved ones. It doesn’t mean that the whole extended, secular family doesn’t come over to exchange gifts, have dinner, and enjoy each others’ company, and it certainly doesn’t mean that I’m devoid of morals or have a spiritual hole in my life. This time of year is important and special to us, even if we don’t sing hymns- the scope may be a little bit different, but the main ingredients are still there. It’s the one day a year that nearly everything shuts down and we spend the day lazing about near the fireplace, drinking coffee with Bailey’s and enjoying our new sweaters. And leading up to that day, everyone is so damned nice. People are more prone to get along with each other at this time of year, and how is THAT not worth the celebration?

It’s like Garfield said: “It’s not the giving. It’s not the getting. It’s the loving.” I’m on board with that sentiment 100%, and even without a supreme being to guide my way, there’s plenty of love given and received among my family at Christmas.

By the way, I have no desire to campaign for calling Christmas trees “holiday trees” in an attempt to make everyone feel warm and fuzzy. That’s a load of crap to me, watering down belief systems for public consumption- there are too many different facets of society to be able to please every one of them, so just call the damn thing what it is. Inclusion of everyone doesn’t work on this scale, and to force it just pisses off the people who are having their traditions stepped on.

So I hope that those of you celebrating next week with Jesus’ birthday in mind aren’t bothered that plenty of us have co-opted the holiday with little religious basis, but as far as the spirit of the season goes, we’re right there with you cherishing our family and friends. Have a merry Christmas, whatever you believe in.

Rose McMayhem

Update on I-405 Repair; right lane open next week, cost is 7 million dollars

Written by Randy Corman 0 Comments

Subject: Fwd: I-405 Culvert Repair — status

Mayor and Full Council, for your information

>>> Peter Hahn 12/18/2007 4:56 PM >>>
Transportation Committee:

This is a followup to a conversation Marcie and I had around noon today.

We met with WSDOT today and we have this to report:

There are two parts to the repair: the temporary repair and the permanent one.

The temporary one is intended to handle any more severe rain fall in the next several months. It consists of the installation of 3 – 24 inch pipes to convey water, plus 15 pumps and generators. This work is supposed to be completed before year’s end, or even slighly sooner (no one is eager to work over Christmas).

The permanent replacement of the 48 inch culvert will be designed and awarded before the end of January with completion by end of March.

The estimated cost is $5 million for the permanent, and $2 million + $250,000 in equipment rental for the temporary.

WSDOT does not anticipate a lot of lane closure after this week and very little thereafter.

Peter

Peter Hahn
Deputy Administrator
Planning, Building, Public Works
City of Renton

The US Supreme Court agrees to review punctuation….oh, and gun ownership too

Written by Randy Corman 4 Comments

The New York Times ran an interesting opinion piece about the Supreme Court’s agreement to review the Second Amendment for the first time in 70 years. All parties are hanging their arguements on what our founding fathers meant with their punctuation. (I don’t know what the court would do with a typical text message today.)

Obviously, any change in the meaning of this amendment could have far-reaching ripple-down effects in all fifty states and countless cities and counties (depending on what voters wanted.)

Click Here for the story

Renton’s downtown is already Benson Hill’s downtown

Written by Randy Corman 4 Comments

From Benson Hill resident Kari Kopnick:

It’s been a long week. Somehow, I’m not sure how this happened exactly, but somehow, it’s almost Christmas. Again. And somehow, again, I’m not done with my Christmas shopping. For anyone. Even the dog.

So my dear husband and I decided to take a break from the shopping and budget and deciphering of our sons’ Christmas lists and go out for a quick pint of beer here in our local town. Now, Downtown Renton has a lot of great little spots to grab a quick pint. I love The Whistle Stop and always try to lure anyone who wants to meet for a lunch meeting to come and split sweet potato fries with me there.

The Dog and Pony is great, with a fantastic list of local beers that is always changing. And Giant’s Causeway is a treat, especially if you catch the live music.

But if you’re out looking for a place to grab a quick date on a Sunday night, those aren’t even an option. All closed. It’s quiet on Sunday nights here in our town, the Piazza is all lit up, the transit center looks active. But there aren’t a lot of our eateries and pubs open.

So my husband and I wound up in one of the hang outs in town we like best: La Hacienda. Once last fall we even stopped in to celebrate our friend’s new tattoo from Diamond Lil’s. It was full blast– fun, great service and fantastic food. So we hit La Hacienda at, oh about 8 on Sunday night.

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The place was pretty empty, just a few folks hanging out at the bar and a few couples eating and chatting, good music on the jukebox, and a nice waiter. Gustavo took our whining for a dark beer seriously and told us about Negro Modelo, a Mexican beer which turned out to be good—smooth and not too heavy but with a good bite to it. We even split a second one. I think Gustavo was just showing off but he brought us new chilled glasses and I swear to the Christmas elves he split the bottle of beer perfectly between the glasses, must have been down to the drop. He kept us stocked up on the amazing pico de gallo and salsa, and brought our check fast so we could get home and back to stressing out about our how soon Christmas is coming.
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Suppose once we get annexed we’ll have nice spots to eat over on Benson Hill? I mean, I love the new Pho World by Fred Meyer, but it’s just not the same as heading to a downtown. Even our little downtown. I love it. Hey, maybe I should head there during the day well, you know, for some Christmas shopping. Maybe someone will even meet me for some of those sweet potato fries when I’m done!

Kari Kopnick

(see Kari’s other entries by clicking the tag below)

You heard it from Karolyn Grimes, of Carnation: “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings”

Written by Randy Corman 0 Comments

My wife and daughter talked me into accompanying them to the Seattle Woman’s show last year. While they really had fun, and I found most of it moderately interesting, there was one definite highlight for me. We ran across Karolyn Grimes, a Carnation resident who had the most famous line in the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Now a youngish-seeming grandmother, she remains recognizable at Zu Zu, and she is wonderfully willing to share about making the movie. She told me her strongest memory was of Jimie Stewert carrying her down the stairs on the set of the old house. At 6′ 3″, Stewart was soooo tall, she said, and he would hold her high up near his shoulders, making her feel like she was way up in the air. She also said she remembers him being very friendly and warm to everyone.

 

Here is a picture she signed for us.

If you go to This Website you can learn more about Karolyn Grimes and see pictures of her today.

Great time to purchase your first home! Potential buyers– now’s the time to talk with an agent!

Written by Randy Corman 0 Comments

If you have been hoping to land your first home in the Renton real estate market, now might be a really good time to see what you can purchase. Renton has some really great real estate brokers and some excellent local lending institutions, and they would all like to help you purchase your first home. They can also tell you about what assistance programs are available for first-time buyers….you may be very pleasantly surprised.

With inventory of homes-for-sale up, and interest rates headed down, we may not see conditions this good for first-time buyers again for a long time.

Many people are a little spooked by real estate across the nation right now, as banks are struggling with “sub-prime” mortgages, where they lent money to borrowers at initial teaser below-marker interest rates; then, when these interest rates climbed to market value (in two to five years usually), some borrowers could not afford the payments. Meanwhile, if their house value had remained flat, or even dropped, some buyers were defaulting on the loans. This has created a great number of foreclosures nationally, and spooked some investors about real estate. But, it also creates an opportunity for new first-time buyers, as long as you get a loan that you will be able to afford in the long term. With home prices depressed right now, and interest rates headed down, you may be pleasantly surprised in what you can buy.

Good luck!
Read an article from today’s Seattle Times about the “buyer’s marker” in Renton and elsewhere…. CLICK HERE

Email from Police Chief Milosevich; Car-pedestrian accident on Duvall Sarturday afternoon

Written by Randy Corman 9 Comments

Information from Chief Milosovich about the car-pedestrian accident on Duvall yesterday. The preliminary investigation seems to indicate that a Renton jogger was killed by a car which drifted across the oncoming traffic lanes. Here is the chief’s email, sent to our council inboxes from the field. I’m sure this report is subject to revision as the police interview witnesses and learn more.

From: “Kevin Milosevich” <kmilosevich@ci.renton.wa.us> [ Save Address ]
To: “Clark Wilcox” <cwilcox@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Daniel Clawson” <dclawson@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Denis Law” <dlaw@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Don Persson” <dpersson@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Jay Covington” <jcovington@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Kathy Keolker” <mayorkathy@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Marcie Palmer” <mpalmer@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Randy Corman” <rcorman@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Terri Briere” <tbriere@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Antonette Nelson” <tnelson@ci.renton.wa.us>
Subject: Car-pedestrian accident on Duvall this afternoon
Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 16:36:52 -0800

We are at the scene of what will be a fatality accident on Duvall.

A little different than the two recent accidents.

A jogger was southbound on the east shoulder when the suspect vehicle was
southbound on Duvall.

The vehicle drove gradually across both northbound lanes and struck the jogger
from behind.

The vehicle drove into a ditch, up an embankment and through several sections of
fence before resting on it’s side against a tree.

The driver was injured, and will survive. We are investigating the cause.

Sgt Wilcox will provide additional information later in the evening.

Reminder from Randy, added Dec 17: Until we get more information, we need to presume that this is just a terrible accident of some kind. The police will conduct an extremely thorough investigation, and determine if the driver might have any criminal culpability. Meanwhile, presume innocent of course. (I don’t know any more than what is in this email at this point, but I’ll let you know as soon as the police release a public update)

Missed it by that much. Renton business came SO close to becoming billion dollar enterprise

Written by Randy Corman 1 Comment


“Missed it by that much!”
Renton business Classmates.com sure had the right idea in 1995. They knew there was a market in helping people connect with old friends over the internet. And they knew that with some on-line advertising, sharing of profiles from others already signed on, and word-of-mouth, people would make their site popular.

This Renton business was, in my view, and the view of many others, the first social networking site.

I had signed-up on Classmates.com in it’s early years, nearly a decade before I had heard about Myspace or Facebook. I posted a simple but accurate profile, and read some facts about some old and dear high school friends.

Looking back, I think the only flaw in Classmates.com’s plan, that ultimately prevented them growing into a top-visited, billion-dollar enterprise like Facebook or Myspace, was that they charged you a couple bucks a month if you wanted to actually contact all the high-school chums that you found on their site. I chose not to pay it. I didn’t trust online credit-card transactions very much at the time, and I decided my friends could find me through other public channels…I thought, “why sign up for another recurring cost?”

Thus, when MySpace, Facebook, and Livejournal came on the scene, and offered to link you for free so long as you did not mind ads scrolling around on the side bars, the critical mass flocked to these other sites.

This one business detail, which is much easier seen with 20/20 hindsight, possibly stopped Renton from hatching a huge Social Networking empire to accompany our jet aircraft empire and truck-making empire. Bummer.

Maybe it’s not too late. After all, Classmates.com has shown some staying power…it is one of the few companies that survived the internet bubble burst six years ago. And it sounds like finance experts are still valuing it above $100 million dollars, something anyone could be very proud of.

What do you web-savvy readers think… if Classmates.com revamped their business strategy right now, could they still be a contender for a significant position in the social networking world? Could a Renton start-up still scrap and fight its way to the top of the social networking charts? Or is it simply too late?

Here is the LA Times story on the recent shelving of the sale of Classmates.com stock, with some analysis of the Renton based company.

Jimmy Mac’s Roadhouse

Written by Randy Corman 2 Comments

Jimmy Mac’s Roadhouse, which started in Renton and then spawned a new Federal Way restaurant, was just reviewed by the Tacoma News Tribune. While the Federal Way restaurant was the one critiqued, my personal observations are that the write-up and recommendation seems equally valid for the original restaurant here in Renton (On SW 7th Stree, near Walmart.) If you have not tried it yet, you should go for a visit. While we have many excellent restaurants in Renton, Jimmy Mac’s remains one of my favorites.

Click here for the Tacoma Tribune write-up