TUESDAY, Feb 14, 2017 to ......?: NOTE TO FILE
Eric Lee's 1,742 Hours
Tucson, AZ, USA
Reporter, A-SOCIATED PRESS
Abstract: I commited to spending 1,742 hours in public to assess responce to signage featuring "Sustainability 101" as main message. The raw data is below.
TUCSON (A-P) — The year(s) of 'protesting' and 'informing' is also a social experiment to assess public interest in sustainability issues. The protocol is to be in public, as a citizen with a sign, and to assess observable changes in behavior. The signage includes large print 50 cm (20") wide, readable from 30 m (100') away, as well as small print which a walking passerby has to pause (readily observed) for a few seconds to read.. The main text, 'Sustainability 101', the subtitle of Al Bartlett's video, had to be short to be readable at a distance. The '101' was to suggest there's more to know about the current buzzword 'sustainability'. From 15 m (50') away the secondary message can be read: 'Read Demystifying Sustainability' which is the book the signage/protest is ultimately intended to get people to read.
A URL link is provided and the number of people using it, as well as following links of related material, can be measured as can the number who pause to read sign details, take a tab with URL, or talk to the citizen 'protester' about 'sustainability'. For details and results: Assessing Public Response to Sustainability 101 Signage: A citizen science project. Of personal interest: does anyone else in the Tucson area (about 1 million) share my concerns? Inquiring minds (and social primates) want to know.
Notes: Only public travel by bus, bike, or walking with signage displayed is included in protest hours (I don't drive/have a car). Trip distance is round trip—economy bus fare in Tucson is $0.65 each way instead of regular $1.75. Tabs are the only consumable given out to those not able to write URL down, cost $0.0022 each. UofA is University of Arizona and w/b or b/w is 'walk/bus' as in walk one way, bus the other. In winter, take bus when cold then walk back, in summer walk when cool, take bus back in heat of the day. Other than $ cost of transportation and consumables, energy costs considered but not measured. If bus stops only for you, increased diesel usage is measurable while increased energy used related to your weight may not be. Physical activity of walking/biking, up to a point, is a need, a benefit, and not considered a 'cost'. Handouts become waste, minimized by giving out only small tabs with URL info leading to more digital info. Consider bicycle/bus/body wear, calories burned, materials/energy embodied in protest equipment.... To live is to consume, but there is nothing desirable in consumption per se. Enough is enough.
Initial investment in items used during protest (chair, table, signage, solar cookers, solar chargers, umbrella, backpack, small portable cart) prorated over 346 days of protest, adds $1/day, so $1/day is baseline cost plus transportation and misc. costs but not including food, etc. not incurred by 'protesting'/'informing public'.
My public teaching is entirely Socratic, I don't tell people what to think or believe much less what is 'true', just point to questionable but likely sound information and raise questions (share concerns). I attribute specific ideas/policies/proposals to the Ecolate Party of which I am not a member, so I never defend the Party Platform as offered for consideration. Questioning why the Ecolate Party would propose a thought bite may allow information to be mentioned for the looking into.
| Days 1-30 | Days 31-60 | Days 61-90 | Days 91-120 | Days 121-150 | Days 151-180 |
| Days 181-210 | Days 211-240 | Days 241-270 | Days 301-330 | Days 331-360 | Days 361-390 |
| Day | Date |
Protest Hrs. |
Travel by |
Trip |
$ Cost |
Gift $ |
Tabs took | Place | People spoken to/who paused to read sign/ Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2/14 | 5.2 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | El Pueblo Library | 2/7 Mostly ignored. Finished reading Half Earth by E.O. Wilson. Person taking a tab said he had a sixth grade education but had read 300 books while doing time. |
| 2 | 2/15 | 5.7 | bus | 9 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | Main Library | 1/6 More people, less interest. Area in front paved in brick, about 90,000 covering 20,000 sq. ft., and two 3/4" plants growing in cracks between bricks. One dicot, one monocot; neither will flower, but they seek to live as I seek to inform. I may have more in common with them than the busy people even though I am not stepped on.. |
| 3 | 2/16 | 5.9 | bike | 14 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Sentinel Peak | 0/5 Overview city park to look upon Tucson. |
| 4 | 2/17 | 5.1 | bus | 9 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | Main Library | 0/5 Found two more plants between bricks. |
| 5 | 2/18 | 8.1 | bus | 9 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | Main Library | 0/3 Intermittent rain. |
| 6 | 2/19 | 3.5 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | Laos transit center | 1/5 New, larger sign. Walking along 6th Ave., called to by person wanting to talk, multiple questions. First actual interest/conversation. It's not about where, it's being out there. |
| 7 | 2/20 | 5.9 | walk | 10 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | Downtown | 3/5 No rain. Walking and towing cart less stress than backpack. On low traffic street, person turning into residential area as I was about to cross, stopped, wanted to read sign, asked questions, took tab, first person likely to go to URL, so it's about 'being there' as Chancy Gardener found out.. |
| 8 | 2/21 | 7.4 | walk | 7 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | Santa Rosa Library | 2/3 Second person likely to go to URL came out of library, but target market is anyone asking 'What's sustainability?' to one who reads book, so can't fail. |
| 9 | 2/22 | 6.4 | walk | 9 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | Sam Lena Library | 2/2 Another tab taker likely to visit page. |
| 10 | 2/23 | 6.1 | walk | 7 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Rodeo route | 0/0 Walked route an hour before and after parade, thousands of people in place. Some children looked at hominid/baby pictures. |
| 11 | 2/24 | 5.6 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | El Pueblo Library | 0/1 Cool day. Part of time walking area, people in cars don't stop. |
| 12 | 2/25 | 5.7 | b/w | 9 | $1.65 | $1.00 | 1 | Main Library | 1/4 Took bus, walked back, so b/w. First donation. |
| 13 | 2/26 | 5.5 | bike | 14 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Sentinel Peak | 1/0 Cloudy, cool, a few drops of rain. One supporter...concludes that Jesus is the only hope for humans to live sustainable lives. |
| 14 | 2/27 | 8.2 | b/w | 10 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 2 | Downtown | 2/4 Cloudy by rain tomorrow, so will let it rain. |
| 15 | 2/28 | 8.9 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Laos transit center | 0/0 Finished reading Enough is Enough: Building a sustainable economy in a world of finite resources. |
| 16 | 3/1 | 7.2 | b/w | 10 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 0/0 Wind, only used smaller sign. |
| 17 | 3/2 | 4.0 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Reviewed Enough is Enough. |
| 18 | 3/3 | 2.4 | walk | 6 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | South Tucson | 0/0 Windy, only used smaller sign. |
| 19 | 3/4 | 10.1 | walk | 10 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 2 | Downtown | 2/7 Favorable primate weather, so walked. One who read signage, took tab, is out of state academic/scientist type (lectures on climate science), no questions, perhaps as what I'm doing and why is evident, I'd guess he knows of Bartlett and Ehrlichs whose recommendation is enough. Did state his approval of what I'm doing. Said if his library didn't have a copy, he'd deal with it suggesting of a position of influence. Only 19 days of 'protest' to potentially make a difference. |
| 20 | 3/5 | 5.1 | b/w | 10 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 0/0 Windy. |
| 21 | 3/6 | 6.4 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Didn't take chair/table, sat inside. |
| 22 | 3/7 | 5.4 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | South Tucson | 0/1 Mostly walking. Two men talking, one looks startled, looking my way in disbelief, as I pass he struggles to find words and, with apparent concern for my wellbeing, says, 'You have a sign around your neck!' as if I had two heads. |
| 23 | 3/8 | 7.3 | b/w | 10 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 0/2 Part of time inside main library doing sustainability research. |
| 24 | 3/9 | 3.9 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | Sam Lena Library | 1/4 A motorist pulled off ahead, walks to sidewalk and waited. Local political activist, but likely to go to URL. |
| 25 | 3/10 | 9.0 | walk | 11 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | Downtown | 3/8 Encountered second person who understood what I was doing and why without asking. I did not suggest he read the book or go to website as in less than 10 minute conversation, he said nothing to indicate a need for more information. |
| 26 | 3/11 | 5.6 | bike | 14 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Sentinel Peak | 1/3 First person to pick up Demystifying Sustainability; read a few paragraphs picked at random. She's a reader and talks about how 'it's all about the money' and mentions powering a household on a cup of water apparently via 'free energy' devices being suppressed. Other facts are also suppressed. I just let her talk. On leaving she adds that she's a 'big radio person' who stays up all night listening to Coast to Coast AM (post-truth source since before internet), which explained everything. Could be worse, she could get all her 'information' from social media. |
| 27 | 3/12 | 5.3 | b/w | 9 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | Main Library | 0/2 Carried backpack, pulling travois significantly less stressful. |
| 28 | 3/13 | 7.5 | b/w | 11 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 0/2 Warming up. |
| 29 | 3/14 | 5.1 | walk | 3 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | South Tucson | 0/0 Walked mostly, few others walking. |
| 30 | 3/15 | 4.0 | walk | 3 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Kennedy Lake | 1/1 Bus goes to trailhead, but walked for overnight camping, solar cooking in park, have signage but won't count time on trail. |
total |
---- |
177 |
123 miles walk |
217 |
$38.45 |
$1.00 |
13 |
---- |
23/80 Several 'maybes' to read book, so odds are one person read Demistifying Sustainability. Two ecolate 'maybes' so count one for 'ecolate concerns'. Walked 24 of 30 days, 5.1 mi/day average on days walking all or part of way. |
30 day note: Two people spoke who, having read sign only, understood what I was doing and why. My concerns were evident suggesting they were aware of and had considered such concerns even if they did not share them. One lectured on the science of climate change, so likely an academic, scientist, or both. The other was a man sitting near, said something I didn't quite hear other than the word 'sustainability', so I walked over closer. I asked if he had a question about 'sustainability' and he mentioned that he knew what sustainability meant, paused, and added that being homeless didn't mean he isn't smart. Point taken.
He just wanted to mention that while he supposed he had 'given up' on people, it was good to see someone 'step up to the plate', even if it just meant being in public with a sign. Too few are willing to do anything and that mere talk wasn't 'stepping up to the plate'. I had a clear impression he was thinking he should do something. I mentioned the subtitle of Washington's book was 'Towards real solutions' and that, yes, too few were up to considering 'real solutions'. He asked what, in my opinion, would be an example of a 'real solution'. I tried to think of an example of something humans could do that would actually make a difference and mentioned ending all fossil fuel use in five years. He considered that for a moment and disagreed. It was too late, we should have done that a long time ago. I suggested 1960s maybe, and he agreed. While ending fossil fuel use in five years would help mitigate harm yet to be done, it would be more like 'too little too late' than a 'real solution', so his assessment is actually the same as my own as previously stated.
He had worked as a miner, coal and minerals, West Virginia and Arizona, mentioned, to his dismay, the practice of mountain top removal to get at the coal. That the mining, the resource extraction, was unsustainable had always been obvious to him. He wanted to change the SYSTEM, but no one wanted to 'step up to the plate' and he lamented that he too had not, but had given up. The original Earth First! members had wanted to step up to the plate too, and had for a time, but I mentioned that only maybe 1 in 100,000 were willing to question, much less oppose the SYSTEM, and he added, 'if that many'.
With such odds, it is understandable that too few will do more than talk about 'sustainability' and anyone who actually posed a threat would be easily brushed aside like a gnat, swatted like a mosquito or end up in prison for life. He acknowledged that would explain why too few were willing to 'step up to the plate'. I didn't see his having 'given up' as reprehensible, but as understandable, and so he nor I should think him a 'failure' and I think I helped by sharing that view. No one wearing a suit ever paused. The most admirable human I met was a homeless guy whom I cannot view as a 'failure'.
We didn't talk more than ten minutes, I could be wrong, but based on what was said, I will count him among the 'ecolate'. While he had, as we all have, served the SYSTEM, he had not been fooled into thinking it was all for the greater good (maybe just the greater greed). Now living on the streets, he did not serve the SYSTEM at all and so was free to see the obvious, to look and listen without illusions. Those who serve the SYSTEM, no matter how 'smart', can't see what is in front of their faces. Even if a Bartlett carefully explains the exponential function (or whatever that does not support their illimitable prosperity/growth narrative), those who would SERVE cannot understand the implications as to do so would lead to cognitive dissonance if not overt opposition (or homeless secondary to refusal to serve the SYSTEM or to serving six life-terms...).
PCC = Pima Community College.
| Day | Date |
Protest Hrs. |
Travel by |
Trip |
$ Cost |
Gift $ |
Tabs took | Place | People spoken to/who paused to read sign/ Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 3/16 | 5.9 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Ajo Way | 0/0 Walked back after camp out, one wheel broke on rough, rocky, off-trail section so had to carry stuff to trail. Overview of Tucson: 'the spectral city incandescently glows' all night, and traffic on I-10 at 'crack of' dawn still heavy, so 24/7. Just takes energy. A hundred years ago the view would have been very different. And a hundred years from now? |
| 32 | 3/17 | 5.4 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 1/1 Checked out by someone who had seen me here before. |
| 33 | 3/18 | 8.1 | walk | 11 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | Downtown | 1/3 Ecologist (PhD in) stopped to talk. Local 'character' listening informed us we were both crazy, wanted to know if we believed in God, and revieled he was God. I couldn't get a word in for five minutes and finally after God left I said, 'The important question is do you believe in Howard T. Odum?' He had heard of Eugene, 'Howard' sounded familiar, I missed my chance to say 'Howard, like Mycroft, was Eugene's smarter brother'. |
| 34 | 3/19 | 6.2 | bus | 14 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | Himmel Park | 0/1 Solar cooking at park. Whrilwind took sign, broke foam board. Wasn't up to walking all the way back, took bus. |
| 35 | 3/20 | 5.5 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Inside. |
| 36 | 3/21 | 8.0 | bus | 10 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 0/1 Solar cooking but only one person with a 'what's that' question. Street vendors getting people's attention. |
| 37 | 3/22 | 7.5 | b/w | 12 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | PCC Downtown | 0/3 Library doesn't have Demystifing Sustainability, will consider ordering. Approval for being on campus in process. Talked to Security first, directed to whom I should talk to. There was a 'pushy' Hare Krishna guy giving away literature, so approval possible. |
| 38 | 3/23 | 5.4 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 High winds so did not go to Sentinel Peak. |
| 39 | 3/24 | 5.0 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Wal-Mart | 1/1 Seeing small sign, a man wanted to know if I was living sustainably, stating the question in an aggressive manner, perhaps assuming I claim to and to imply others aren't living 'right'. I said I wasn't living sustainably, but was thinking about it, a claim that could not be challenged. |
| 40 | 3/25 | 3.5 | walk | 3 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Kennedy Lake | 0/0 Solar cooking in park before going into hills, another test of camping tech using a four-wheel cart which had to be emptied to drag up steep and rough slope. |
| 41 | 3/26 | 2.5 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Ajo Way | 0/0 Walk back in afternoon. Traffic was noticeably less at 3-4 AM on a Sunday morning and no military aircraft.. |
| 42 | 3/27 | 6.1 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | South Tucson | 1/1 May have pulled over having seen Sustainability 101. Wanted to know what small print said. We shared info for maybe ten minutes. When just being out walking seems pointless, chance favors the walking sign. |
| 43 | 3/28 | 8.1 | walk | 10 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 1/2 Some company's 'scientist' just wanted to tell me what I should be protesting. Something concerning a 1 cent fuel tax that was misspent by governor of AZ. Claimed $1 billion involved, but that implies 100 billion gallons of fuel taxed in AZ. |
| 44 | 3/29 | 5.0 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Inside working on web pages. |
| 45 | 3/30 | 3.5 | b/w | 12 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | PCC Community Campus | 0/1 Still called a campus but mainly administrative. Learned that to be on any campus go to VP of Student Activities to fill out a form. Good to know. |
| 46 | 3/31 | 6.7 | bus | 14 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | PCC West | 1/3 Getting approval, also walked to PCC Downtown to apply. Solar cooked in park. |
| 47 | 4/1 | 8.2 | walk | 9 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | Downtown | 0/2 Request for 'literature' so gave a URL tab. |
| 48 | 4/2 | 7.0 | bike | 15 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Cyclovia | 0/5 Streets closed except to those walking/biking. Sitting along route in section with no vendors/booths/competition, 2,000+/hour but most go and come, so 1,000 different passersby/hour. 'Messages' may not interest at recreational/entertainment events like this or rodeo. Solar cooking demo also largely ignored. |
| 49 | 4/3 | 8.3 | b/w | 14 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 2/0 Ag. Extension meeting, walking back two asked what 'sustainability' ment walking by, 'keeping things going a few hundred years.' Permission to go to PCC Downtown. |
| 50 | 4/4 | 5.3 | w/b | 14 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 1/1 Walked to meeting at 1830, bus back. More cars honking, possibly because they are seeing me again. |
| 51 | 4/5 | 3.5 | walk | 3 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Kennedy Lake | 0/0 At 1730 road in front of hill with heavy traffic, waited 20 minutes for a break in homeward bound cars. |
| 52 | 4/6 | 6.2 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Ajo Way | 0/0 Finished reading The Blind Watchmaker. |
| 53 | 4/7 | 7.5 | walk | 10 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | PCC Downtown | 0/3 Friday, on campus 3.5 hours, no students, few others, don't know why. |
| 54 | 4/8 | 8.7 | walk | 9 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 0/1 Learning to travel lighter without chair or table. |
| 55 | 4/9 | 7.9 | walk | 11 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Reid Park | 0/1 Potluck, went early to solar cook, but no sun. |
| 56 | 4/10 | 8.1 | walk | 9 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Main Library | 0/0 Finished reading Martin Gardener's The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener |
| 57 | 4/11 | 5.1 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Start work on human development timeline. |
| 58 | 4/12 | 8.0 | walk | 9 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Main Library | 0/1 Finish rough draft. |
| 59 | 4/13 | 7.9 | walk | 10 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | PCC Downtown | 2/4 On campus 5 hrs. About as much traffic as parts of downtown, just mostly students. |
| 60 | 4/14 | 7.6 | bike | 14 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Sentinel Peak | 0/0 Found 3' drain pipe going into river bank 30' to dead end, so always dry. Cool in summer, warm in winter. Potential home for one. |
total |
---- |
192 |
168 miles walk |
265 |
$35.50 |
$0.00 |
3 |
---- |
11/35 One 'maybe' to read Demistifying Sustainability. No ecolate 'maybes'. Walked 25 of 30 days, 6.7 mi/day average. |
60 day note:Weather not hot yet, so walking more (7.3 mi/day walked) because I can secondary to reduced activity intolerance. When walking, more may see signage but less chance to interact. First two months spent mostly as 'man about town'. May spend more time on community college campuses for comparison. One science student stated 'sustainability' was colonizing Mars and I merely added, 'And then what?' Well, there are billions of other planets out there.... I mostly encouraged him to express his vision as it seemed just the current one of someone who thinks about things, and therefore subject to change with new information. I gave him more to think about. I tried to out techno-optimist him with visions of my Dyson sphere providing habitat for 30 billion billion humans, and of Earth, Moon, Mars as recreational areas for ultra elites. He envisions Earth, even with just one four billionth the population, remaining the cultural and political center of the solar system. Yes, the Emperor, elected or otherwise, would likely live on Earth. Maybe the Big Island of Hawaii would serve as her place grounds. Intelligent conversation doesn't involve arguing/asserting, but mutual informing. I learn why Clydesdale horses were developed and will consider his suggestion that empires fail mainly secondary to internal socio-political failures/instability. I was able to end on the question of what happens when the Dyson sphere is finished, when all material resources in the solar system are used up, and all energy from Sol is harvested for human use? Time is always limiting so I never got around to asking about emergy or energy principles and whether the rise and fall of empires might have something to do with energy.
| Day | Date |
Protest Hrs. |
Travel by |
Trip |
$ Cost |
Gift $ |
Tabs took | Place | People spoken to/who paused to read sign/ Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | 4/15 | 1.5 | walk | 3 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Kennedy Lake | 0/0 Didn't stay long in park. |
| 62 | 4/16 | 4.6 | walk | 6 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mission/ Silverlake |
0/0 Walked back the long way. |
| 63 | 4/17 | 6.5 | b/w | b6 w12 |
$1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | UMC | 2/1 Motorcyclist at stoplight ask me to turn so he could read sign. Another pedestrian asked me to stop, extended talk on sustainability. Noted all humans are one family but he had to carry a rock in his pocket to deal with other homeless. Hard to follow, but said I'd think about what he had said and did. |
| 64 | 4/18 | 6.2 | bus | 25 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | Northwest FM | 1/2 Man on bus spoke at length. Finished reading Lester Brown's World on the Edge: How to prevent environmental and economic collapse 2011 |
| 65 | 4/19 | 8.2 | walk | 13 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | UofA FM | 0/0 Lot of pedestrian traffic but few even looked at signage, too much competition for attention. |
| 66 | 4/20 | 8.1 | walk | 1 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 In library to work on responce to World on the Edge. It's a sustainability thing. |
| 67 | 4/21 | 8.8 | b/w | 12 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | UMC FM | 1/2 In courtyard between Colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing. Busy, was 100 feet away from the 18 vendors. |
| 68 | 4/22 | 6.5 | b/w | b5 w6 |
$1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | March for Science | 2/3 March cancelled so more a large rally, four hours of speakers and music alternating. Only one person spoke to me, other on way back. Blog on the March for Science. Brief contact with three UofA Students for Sustainability. |
| 69 | 4/23 | 5.3 | walk | 3 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Kennedy Lake | 0/0 Reading in the park. |
| 70 | 4/24 | 8.2 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Ajo Way | 1/1 Asked what 'sustainability' meant. |
| 71 | 4/25 | 8.9 | bus | 27 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 3 | PCC NW | 3/3 On bus was asked permission to take picture of sign to record URL to visit. Best possible interaction. On campus two students also took pictures for same reason. No other students paused to read sign. |
| 72 | 4/26 | 7.7 | walk | 8 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | PCC Desert View | 1/1 One quick question. |
| 73 | 4/27 | 7.2 | walk | 9 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Santa Cruz FM | 0/0 Actual produce grown local sold at this one, not just stuff and prepared/cooked food. Others are nominal FMs at this time. |
| 74 | 4/28 | 6.8 | w/b | 18 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Botanical Gardens FM | 0/0 No produce, open-air artisan market. Up-scale. |
| 75 | 4/29 | 5.7 | bike | 36 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Race the Sun | 0/0 Student solar cart race. I looked over 10 quad-ecycles, picked the best design, it was winning when I left. |
| 76 | 4/30 | 6.8 | bike | 7 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Kennedy Lake | 0/0 Watched ducks, two of which I had raised. |
| 77 | 5/1 | 7.0 | walk | 9 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 0/0 Used small sign. |
| 78 | 5/2 | 7.5 | w/b | 14 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | Ward 6 | 1/1 Another what is sustainability question. |
| 79 | 5/3 | 7.5 | walk | 11 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | UofA FM | 1/2 The person expressing interest was on sidewalk on the way. At UofA 5.5 hours, one person paused to read sign. Sat away from market in mall with fewer distractions, high traffic, up to two dozen per minute, but half of students with smartphone in hand and/or earbuds. Others in pairs talking, very few even glancing at sign. High demands on attention may leave little to spare. |
| 80 | 5/4 | 5.5 | walk | 3 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Inside. |
| 81 | 5/5 | 5.7 | bus |
22 2 |
$2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | Catalina State Park | 0/0 Paid twice as more than 2 hours for final bus. Wheels on cart fail. |
| 82 | 5/6 | 7.0 | walk | 0 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | Solar Potluck | 0/3 35th annual solar potluck, low attendance due to competing event. |
| 83 | 5/7 | 7.0 | w bus |
8 13 |
$1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | Catalina State Park | 0/1 No bus from park on Sunday, so had to walk into Tucson. |
| 84 | 5/8 | 6.5 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Inside. |
| 85 | 5/9 | 5.4 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Small sign, no cart, have to carry stuff on back. |
| 86 | 5/10 | 7.0 | walk | 7 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 0/0 No cart, so carrying about 10 lbs and large sign on bookbag, no chair/table. |
| 87 | 5/11 | 7.1 | walk | 12 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 0/0 Walked back downtown t see what homeless did when park closed at 10:30 pm. |
| 88 | 5/12 | 6.0 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 1/1 Encountered one-legged man in wheelchair on way back, confused, didn't know where to go, spent three hours with before returning him to homeless camp for veterans. |
| 89 | 5/13 | 3.7 | walk | 8 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | 2nd Sat. | 1/2 Street fair downtown. |
| 90 | 5/14 | 3.2 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Rudy Park | 0/0 Non stop traffic going by, park parking lot packed, no one else apparently walked to park. |
total |
---- |
193 hrs |
158 miles walk |
321 mi |
$37.15 |
$0.00 |
6 |
---- |
15/23 No indication anyone may read book. Walked 26 of 30 days, 6 mi/day average. |
90 day note: More time on community college campuses and a couple days at UofA; high foot traffic but little relative notice/interest. I wondered what the homeless in the small park in front of main library did as signs said park closed at 10:30 PM. I asked one person, they said they didn't want to talk to me. To actually know I could come back and did with a couple of blankets. The sidewalk is wide and public, so apparently walking, standing, sitting, laying down, or sleeping on sidewalk on edge of park (waiting for it to reopen?) is not 'lottering' as would be in front of private property. Over two dozen campers, including a group of women, take to the sidewalk. I went to another small park and three people were sleeping on sidewalk. Seemed safe though too much activity to sleep well. Some yelling at one point and police showed up soon to protect and serve. Could be worse. Occupying isolated areas could be more dangerous. Vets have their own camp on private property a couple miles from downtown with a number of large, maybe 20' x 60' army tents.
| Day | Date |
Protest Hrs. |
Travel by |
Trip |
$ Cost |
Gift $ |
Tabs took | Place | People spoken to/who paused to read sign/ Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 91 | 5/15 | 6.3 | bus | 27 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | PCC East | 1/2 End of quarter. |
| 92 | 5/16 | 2.8 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Kennedy Lake | 0/0 Ducks gone, likely coyotes ate them. |
| 93 | 5/17 | 6.2 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Working on Plan A from inner space. |
| 94 | 5/18 | 3.8 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | Mission Library | 2/3 Cool Kat has sustainability interest. |
| 95 | 5/19 | 3.7 | walk | 8 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 0/1 Still not hot out. |
| 96 | 5/20 | 5.5 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Kennedy Lake | 2/3 Long discussion with guys fishing who didn't know what the word 'sustainability' meant, like the rest of us clothed apes. |
| 97 | 5/21 | 5.2 | b/w | 12 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | UMC | 0/1 Stopped at UofA library to read 'Environmental Accounting'. |
| 98 | 5/22 | 5.5 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Santa Cruz River | 0/0 Stopped at Home Depot for cart trailer parts. Will be heavier but 10x stronger and durable enough to last for years of daily use. |
| 99 | 5/23 | 2.0 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | South Tucson | 0/0 Pulling 4-wheel HD cart back from feedstore with 180 lbs of feed. Next time I won't do so on windless day in full sun when it is 104 F. |
| 100 | 5/24 | 6.5 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Hotter. |
| 101 | 5/25 | 6.5 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Santa Cruz River | 0/0 Part of time in library. |
| 102 | 5/26 | 2.5 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mall | 0/1 One nod offered. |
| 103 | 5/27 | 2.6 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Bravo Park | 0/0 Not heavily used park. |
| 104 | 5/28 | 3.0 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Walmart | 0/0 Still designing elements of wheeled travois. Repairs to commercial one still allowing use with light loads. |
| 105 | 5/29 | 1.0 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | La Mar Park | 0/0 One honk, likely have seen sign more than once, perhaps I should also count honks as data points. |
| 106 | 5/30 | 6.5 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 1/1 Still designing elements of travois between building parts.. |
| 107 | 5/31 | 1.5 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mall | 1/1 Question yelled out from passing car. |
| 108 | 6/1 | 2.2 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Desert Shadows Park | 0/0 One honk. |
| 109 | 6/2 | 2.5 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/1 Working on travois mostly. |
| 110 | 6/3 | 1.5 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mall | 0/0 Needed more pop-rivets. |
| 111 | 6/4 | 0.9 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Rudy Park | 0/0 Large city park. |
| 112 | 6/5 | 2.5 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 |
| 113 | 6/6 | 1.2 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Rodeo Wash Park | 0/0 Has water fountain. |
| 114 | 6/7 | 1.5 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Home Depot | 0/0 Needed bolts. |
| 115 | 6/8 | 1.4 | walk | 1 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mariposa Park | 0/0 No water. First test of wheeled travois. |
| 116 | 6/9 | 2.2 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Finally getting hot at 103F. |
| 117 | 6/10 | 2.5 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Walmart | 0/0 Second test run towing travois. |
| 118 | 6/11 | 4.5 | bike | 6 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Veterans | 0/0 Rent issues. |
| 119 | 6/12 | 3.5 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | 6th Ave. | 0/0 Thrift store. |
| 120 | 6/13 | 2.0 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Also to Veterans |
total |
---- |
113 hrs |
101 miles walk |
140 |
$31.95 |
$0 |
1 |
---- |
7/14 No one likely to read book or even go to URL to read about book/topic of sustainability. Only doing 3 3/4 hours/day, far less time than Americans spend watching TV, so I'm slacking off. Being neither a mad dog nor an Englishman, I don't go out in the noonday sun in June.. |
120 day note: Getting hot, going to fewer areas that I haven't been to, so have been seen before by more. Novelty wears off as expected. May have to go to Montana.
| Day | Date |
Protest Hrs. |
Travel by |
Trip |
$ Cost |
Gift $ |
Tabs took | Place | People spoken to/who paused to read sign/ Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 121 | 6/14 | 8.0 | walk | 8 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | Greyhound Station | 1/1 Travois loaded to 90 lbs. |
| 122 | 6/15 | 1.0 | bus | - | $111.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Greyhound Station | 0/0 On bus trip, only counting time waiting for next bus at station with sign. |
| 123 | 6/16 | 3.2 | b/w | -/7 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Polson MT | 1/1 Walked out of town, light rain. Motorist stopped to ask about sign, talked about 30 minutes. |
| 124 | 6/17 | 8.5 | walk | 13 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Flathead State Park | 0/0 Heavy traffic, no shoulder, travois holding up. No rain. Vertebrate roadkill 6. |
| Biological Station | 6/18 to 6/22 camping near park and attending International Society for Biophysical Economy | ||||||||
| 125 | 6/22 | 2.0 | walk | 6 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Beardance Creek | 0/0 Trailheads to lake and mountains. 200 - 500 cars/trucks/RVs per hour on Hwy 35. |
| Beardance | 6/23 Solar cooking on lake shore, washing cloths. 6/24 Hiked 12 miles up Beardance Trail and down Crane Creek trail with gear stashed near road. 6/25 Hiked 14 miles on Phillips Trail. | ||||||||
| 126 | 6/26 | 11.0 | walk | 12 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Flathead River | 0/0 500 - 800 cars/trucks/RVs per hour on Hwy 82 but 2' - 8' shoulder. |
| 127 | 6/27 | 12.5 | walk | 8 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Somer | 1/1 Camp near swimming beach, was going to bathe but water cold and only made it in knee deep. Motorist stopped. Hyw 93 also high traffic but with shoulder even where guard rails used. |
| 128 | 6/28 | 10.9 | walk | 8 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Lakeside | 0/0 Camped near and hiked old logging road. At one point short gap in traffic and only sound was a single engine plane--too much ICE so used occlusive ear buds to reduce volume. |
| 129 | 6/29 | 8.8 | walk | 10 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Rollins | 0/1 Woman motorist stopped but interest not clear. |
| 130 | 6/30 | 9.5 | walk | 9 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Big Arm | 0/0 Following old Hwy 35 little used, a local remembered many fast logging trucks using. |
| 131 | 7/1 | 9.3 | walk | 8 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Big Arm | 0/0 Through and south of Big Arm near fishing access on fragment of old wagon road. |
| 132 | 7/2 | 8.1 | walk | 7 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Polson | 0/0 To borrow pit with four owls 2 miles north of Polson. |
| 133 | 7/3 | 13.3 | walk | 6 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | Polson | 4/4 Indian woman near library, a 'nerd', with interest in sign. |
| 134 | 7/4 | 15.3 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Polson | 4/5 July 4 at Sacajawea Park. |
| 135 | 7/5 | 14.0 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Polson | 0/0 Fewer people out and about. |
| 136 | 7/6 | 15.1 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Polson | 0/0 Mostly at library. |
| 137 | 7/7 | 14.4 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Polson | 0/0 Solar cooking before and after library.. |
| 138 | 7/8 | 15.5 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Polson | 0/0 Venison roadkill feast, one tube solar cooked for 2.7 hours. |
| 139 | 7/9 | 12.2 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Polson | 0/0 Went fishing with Dr. Hall. |
| 140 | 7/10 | 9.8 | walk | 3 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Butte | 0/0 Leave by bus. |
| 141 | 7/11 | 4.1 | bus | - | $111.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Las Vegas | 0/0 A few hours sleep on floor. |
| 142 | 7/12 | 3.5 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Tucson | 0/0 Walked home from bus station when not raining. |
| Tucson | 7/13 to 8-18 Domestic issues meriting time, so not spending time in public. | ||||||||
| 143 | 8/19 | 2.5 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Veterans Blvd. | 0/0 Mostly on 6th Ave. |
| 144 | 8/20 | 4.3 | walk | 9 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Main Library | 0/0 Sat in front of library. |
| 145 | 8/21 | 5.2 | walk | 3 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Working on new signage of more interest to UofA students. |
| 146 | 8/22 | 2.5 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Print test sign element. |
| 147 | 8/23 | 3.5 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mission Library | 0/1 Stayed outside in front of library. |
| 148 | 8/24 | 3.6 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Veterans Blvd. | 0/0 Two trips. |
| 149 | 8/25 | 3.2 | walk | 3 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | 6th Ave. | 1/1 Neighborhood. Pedestrian reading sign. I stop, he comments of on 'consumer society' and 'war on Nature'. |
| 150 | 8/27 | 3.7 | walk | 4 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Kennedy Lake | 0/0 No rain this time. |
total |
---- |
230 hrs | 168 miles walk |
168 mi |
$250- |
$0.00 |
2 |
---- |
12/15 Although everyone at conference was 'ecolate' so far as I could tell, I didn't display signage. As a novelty in Polson, MT some initial interest, but most common responce was to ask what 'sustainability' meant. |
150 day note: Fifth month with interruptions where for days (at conference) or weeks (family matters), I did not protest. For over four months daily 'protesting' was doable, as for months on end many manage to watch TV daily or be misinformed on social media. The walk around Flathead Lake tested the travois design which enabled me to transport about 80-90 lbs of stuff and go 90 miles in 11 days of walking with layovers at age 63. Even in my youth I would not have been able to carry half the weigh as far without serious distress. About three-quarters of the way around I was pulling travois in loose material up a steep slope and did soft tissue damage to hips. I was able to continue by padding the belt and holding the handle to pull it with arms when going uphill. Going downhill I put travois in front and let it pull me down the hill. Someday it will be possible to make the round trip without over-powered vehicles on the road. I'll be too old or dead, but maybe someone will think of me when they do, or not as it won't matter. We technoindustrial humans are so backward that we are not only impressed by digital watches, but still think cars, the main cause of death for those between age 3 and 34 (in industrial society so Kogi not at risk), are a NEED and not a manufactured want. Those who whizzed past in a roar and a whoosh, out of the cradle endlessly rolling..., how's that end game thing working out for you?
Discussion of interest in Polson: Man complained he was sick of hearing about 'sustainability', that the subject was being over discussed. He is the first hu-man to complain of hearing too much about 'sustainability'. I was impressed. He wanted to know if I had heard that 'sustainability' was a ploy of the New World Order overlords to justify controlling the population? I acknowledged I had heard as much. He also spoke on chemtrails and mentioned that the earth could easily support 30 billion hu-mans, so nothing to worry about other than the lies being spread among those who don't know where on social media to go to be informed of the truth of interest to those who would deign to educate themselves. From his diction and easy eloquence, I'm sure he was university educated. I didn't bother to annoy him with alternative information that would merely seem disconfirming as I would obviously have been disinformed by my reptoid overlords. I never argue matters of taste and those who would rather believe have a supreme disinterest in alleged 'facts'. I mentioned, that based on my experience (see above) that maybe 1% of Americans have some slight interest in 'sustainability' and most knew nothing of 'sustainability issues', or even that there are any. He seemed momentarily nonplussed by this info before dismissing my claim. Among those he knew or knew of, all his friends (I didn't ask if he had any in Polson) had beaten the subject to death which is why he was tired of hearing about it. So I had no information to offer of interest, to Like or Share.
| Day | Date |
Protest Hrs. |
Travel by |
Trip |
$ Cost |
Gift $ |
Tabs took | Place | People spoken to/who paused to read sign/ Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0151 | 9/1 | 5.2 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 Mostly inside as hot outside. |
| 0152 | 9/4 | 7.0 | walk | 9 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Main Library | 0/0 Outside library. |
| 0153 | 9/6 | 3.0 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | El Pueblo Library | 1/1 Printed new signage. Person with interest pathetically mentally ill, but not stupid. |
| 0154 | 9/8 | 7.7 | b/w | 8 | $1.75 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 0/1 Still hot out, so walked back late afternoon. New sign. Cart taken on bus. |
| 0155 | 9/10 | 3.6 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mission Library | 0/0 Outside library, but mostly walking time. |
| 0156 | 9/14 | 5.6 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mission Library | 0/0 Mostly inside library. |
| 0157 | 9/23 | 6.5 | b/w | 9 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | Downtown | 0/1 Main library area. |
| 0158 | 9/24 | 6.0 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mission Library | 0/0 Cooling off to low 90s. |
| 0159 | 9/30 | 3.0 | b/w | 12 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | Hummel Library | 0/1 Hummel Park for Shakespeare in the Park, but when dark, sign down, so not counting that time. |
| 0160 | 10/2 | 6.4 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | El Pueblo Library | 0/1 Added Hall video and printed new signs for UofA. |
| 0161 | 10/3 | 4.5 | b/w/b | 13 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 1 | UofA | 1/2 No interest on campus, only on bus. |
| 0162 | 10/4 | 2.4 | car | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mission Library | 0/0 Given ride in car thing, then to UofA for lecture. |
| 0163 | 10/5 | 4.1 | car | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mission Library | 0/0 Required to go by car. |
| 0164 | 10/6 | 4.4 | car | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mission Library | 0/0 Working on ISBPE website. |
| 0165 | 10/7 | 3.6 | car | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mission Library | 0/0 Working on ISBPE website. |
| 0166 | 10/13 | 2.9 | bus | 12 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | UofA | 0/0 To humanity's lecture. |
| 0167 | 10/14 | 3.9 | w/b | 12 | $1.65 | $0.00 | 0 | UofA | 0/0 High traffic, most adorned with smartphones. Maybe six turned their head to read signs, but none slowed down. |
| 0168 | 10/16 | 6.6 | car | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mission Library | 0/0 Relearning Joomla! |
| 0169 | 10/17 | 7.9 | bus | 12 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | UofA | 2/6 The two who spoke to me and four who paused to read signage were off campus—the two who spoke were homeless. On campus, during a 28 minute period, 397 students/faculty passed me by, and 56% were 'festooned with technology', i.e. had 'smart' phones in hand or earbuds hanging from their aduitory canals plugged into one. The other 44%, in passing, may have been plugged into the attention economy as they thought about recent media-as-message or were feeling compelled to look at their smartphone (several were pulling out their smartphone as they passed). The number of plugged-in is a low figure as I surely failed to notice all, especially those with black earbud wires hanging whose device was in their pack or pocket, and some were waiting for it to vibrate in their pocket. So 800 per hour, 60% plugged in (reasonable guess) and two looked at my signs before passing on to their better world. |
| 0170 | 10/21 | 4.2 | bus | 11 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | Main Library | 1/2 Person on bus asked about sign. |
| 0171 | 10/24 | 3.8 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | El Pueblo Library | 0/0 ISBPE work. Later, went to UofA after dark without sign. |
| 0172 | 10/27 | 7.9 | bus w 2 |
12 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | UofA | 1/1 No notice while on campus. One comment on sign from city street worker. |
| 0173 | 10/28 | 3.3 | walk | 2 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 1 | Adult Education Center | 0/0 Sitting outside, has WiFi. |
| 0174 | 12/1 | 5.2 | bus | 18 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | Tohono Chul | 0/0 Out to desert plant park. Missing month due to illness as I am wife's secondary care provider. |
| 0175 | 12/7 | 5.5 | bus | 28 | $2.95 | $0.00 | 0 | Multi-Library Tour | 0/1 A five library tour. |
| 0176 | 1/3 | 5.1 | b/w | 11/2 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 1 | UofA | 1/1 Talked over an hour, longest discussion yet. On campus, but person not faculty nor a student. |
| 0177 | 1/24 | 2.5 | walk | 1 | $2.50 | $0.00 | 0 | U of F | 0/0 At University of Florida, Gainesville |
| 0178 | 1/25 | 0.9 | walk | 1 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | U of F | 0/0 Campus area. |
| 0179 | 1/29 | 6.5 | walk | 6 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | DC | 2/2 Layover in Washington DC. In Union Station, walking Mall, Capital, Washington Monument, city area. First conversation, on national mall, to include population. That the Kogi, who manage their agroecosystem so all have enough yet do not overshoot environmental resources, manage their population somehow was understood, hence may be a people of interest. Passersby in station 2k+/hour, zero paused to read signage. |
| 0180 | 1/31 | 3.0 | walk | 3 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Chicago | 0/1 Encanyoned by the city. |
total |
---- |
148 hrs |
62 miles walk |
228 mi |
$0 |
$45.25 |
5 |
---- |
9/21 So 9 spoke, 21 paused to read. |
180 day note: Longest conversation yet, but dispite apparent interest, website either not visited or off-putting. First discussion that included mention of population management/issues, but couple were product of British educational system, so ability to think about population issues may be exception to American norm.
| Day | Date |
Protest Hrs. |
Travel by |
Trip |
$ Cost |
Gift $ |
Tabs took | Place | People spoken to/who paused to read sign/ Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0181 | 2/24 | 6.2 | bus | 11 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | Armory Park | 1/5 At Tucson Peace Fair. One person asked who 'sustainability 101' was and if I was in group. Short answer was 'no', and I neglected to mention I wouldn't belong to it if it was a group. The Sustainable Tucson group had a table at event. Solar cooked five apples, one at a time. See note at end. |
| 0182 | 3/11 | 4.9 | bus | 12 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 1 | UofA | 2/4 Book Fair, about 2,000 passersby per hour. One professor interested, was in hurry, took pictures of signs. One Nat. Park Ranger thanked me for carrying sign. Step-daughter, who who had never read signage, walked passed without pause. |
| 0183 | 3/17 | 3.8 | walk | 5 | $1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Mission Library | 0/0 Many fishing at Kennedy Lake, a constructed pond, much smaller than Walden Pond, mantained using CAP water pumped from Colorado River or maybe from a well, one of many that have lowered the watertable over 400 feet, because, for a time, we can turn fossil fuels into water. |
| 0184 | 4/15 | 10.8 | bus |
12 4 |
$2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | UofA | 1/4 First to Reid Park for March for Science, walked to UMC then UofA, then downtown.. |
| 0185 | 4/21 | 5.2 | bus walk |
6 6 |
$1.65 | $0.00 | 1 | Downtown | 2/2 Earth Day events today. The two who read sign and spoke of it were waiting at bus stops as I walked back. One asked me to read the sign as she couldn't quite. She asked about the 'monkey' and I mention it represents an anscestor, which implies evolution which the Bible narrative she had been told of did not allow, but she said she was 'smart' and 'open minded'. She stated there was no proof of evolution. I inferred she was using the word as a mathematitian would, and agreed as all claims in science are subject to doubt. I agreed she was 'smart' and mentioned she was in the 1% per my experience, one of the few would would read the sign, who would rather know than believe. I did not agree she was educated, but she knew that, ergo she is smart. The other had to go but assured me she would google the Kogi and Ecolate Party. I consider her smart too. |
| 0186 | 6/5 | 6.2 | car | 11 |
$2.30 | $0.00 | 0 | Himmel Park | 0/2 Sixth anual Degrowth Picnic, only one in USA, attended only by my wife and I, the organizers. |
| 0187 | 10/18 | 3.5 | walk | 7 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Las Vegas | 0/0 Went to CSICON to "protest" but casino doesn't allow informing marks and conference refused my presence with a sign. I had registered for one workshop on skeptical activism ($49), but not the lectures, presentations, or panel discussions. My wife did register for main events and insisted I join her for meals and the Halloween Pajama Party, so I bought a general meal pass too. On arrival I leaned that my plan to protest, if only by walking the Las Vegas Strip during presentations other than the one workshop, was not allowed, so I bought a general admission for $300 more. After the workshop I walked the Strip. Street walkers got some attention, but I got none. |
| 0188 | 10/20 | 2.1 | walk | 5 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Las Vegas | 0/0 Pedestrians on Strip numerous. In addition to the 'Sustainability 101' poster, I debuted my 'They Live' poster in Vegas. I've concluded that 'We Sleep', and that I sleep all the time. When not dreaming I'm asleep, I have lucid dreams I'm awake. Why should I be different? Poe got it right, everything we see or seem is but a dream within a dream. Yesterday I listened to Steven Pinker, Ecomoderist & Antropocene enthusiast extrodinare, one of many, promote his new book, Enlightenment Now. Some skeptics were skeptical, but he's got what servants of the SYSTEM want [to hear]. |
| 0189 | 10/20 | 2.1 | walk | 5 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Las Vegas | 0/0 Many pedestrians on the Strip. Carried the usual 'Sustainability 101' sign and new 'They Live' sign. Clearly I sleep, we sleep, but I sleep all the time. The period between 'waking' and 'falling asleep' is a lucid dream, so fragile is our grasp of 'reality'. As Poe suspected, all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream. This is a more truthful narrative than 'I woke up this morning...', because nothing of the sort happened, which is why we tell different stories. |
| 0190 | 10/23 | 5.5 | b/w/b | 13 | $2.30 | $0.00 | 2 | UofA | 0/9 No one talked to me about sustainability, but two took pictures of posters for URL. Bernie Sanders was on campus as were other protesters. Conjecture: most people who look at signage want to know if they like or dislike the content. A competing sign is vastly more popular: IN THIS HOUSE, WE BELIEVE: My version, without the yelling: In this house, we'd rather know than believe: I'm an unkind freak who doesn't think in terms of like and dislike. |
| 0191 | 4/22/ 2019 |
6.1 | walk | 12.5 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Coos Bay | 2/6 Months go by. Moving to Oregon has been a distraction. Having written recently about Earth Day I was aware it was today. There is one event at a local movie theater: Beavers, Brews, and Forests, Too: Earth Day Beer and Movie Night, and I didn't go. I never celebrate Earth Day as the idea of giving Earth a day, when everyday is Earth day, is absurd. Only political animals would do feel-good things to celebrate Earth Day. So I went for a long walk. Traffic on the Cape Arago Hwy was normal and in 10 minutes 135 vehicles passed me by. Elsewhere, in town and Hwy 101, there was more traffic, so over 800 motorists with 0 or more passengers whizzed past per hour, or about 5,000 total in an area with a population of 26,000 living in a Car Culture. Even allowing for being passed by the same car, up to 20 percent of the population was driving within a six hour period when almost all could be walking. A few honked their horns. One stopped to ask for directions and incidentally read the They Live We Sleep sign, to be the first to connect it to theThey Live movie. The first two pedestrians to read a sign were homeless and on their way to the Devereux Center, an open-door center that helps people meet their basic needs, including food, with a focus on those with mental health issues. So several months ago I became a client, had one free meal, volunteered to serve, but have not yet been called upon, so not one to take something for nothing, I haven't been back. |
| 0192 | 9/20 | 10.0 | walk | 13.2 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Coos Bay | 2/6 Loop to Coos Bay Boardwalk. Likely seen by 4-5 thousand cars, Interaction only with walkers. Added a sign on pole between backpack straps and into back pocket that reads 'I Protest Unsustainable Denial' on both sides. Any sign with 'I Protest....' is equivalent to 'I don't believe in....' but with a poltical spin. So if my sign said, 'I Protest Hetero Sex between Consenting Adults' it would be equivalent, having no information content of interest or value. Would it be more or less politically correct? I don't know. |
| 0193 | 9/21 | 4.0 | walk | 2 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Coos Bay | 0/2 Bay Fun Day event and parade. Lots of pedestrian traffic and lots of distractions. |
| 0194 | 9/27 | 2.4 | walk | 5 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Coos Bay | 0/0 Moderately windy. Not entirely recovered from last week. |
| 0195 | 9/28 | 7.4 | walk | 8.5 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Coos Bay | 0/0 Stand for the Bay event on boardwalk. One person yelled from across the busy road, couldn't understand, guessed he wanted money to buy something at a smoke shop, motioned me to cross the road, but I didn't. Maybe he wanted to read the signs. If he he had, perhaps 'the Solution' would have been obvious to him and humanity and the biosphere would have been saved. But I didn't cross the road, too chicken, and the world.... |
| 0196 | 10/7 | 5.0 | walk | 10.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Coos Bay | 0/0 Walked to 101 bridge, but closed to pedestrians. |
| 0197 | 10/8 | 4.0 | walk | 2.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 2/2 Pulled kayak on wheels to boat ramp. One conversation longest so far on wide ranging issues. |
| 0198 | 10/9 | 4.0 | walk | 3.8 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 2/2 Testing kite as 'sky hook' to fly signs. Two discussions on way back, within a half mile of home. |
| 0199 | 10/10 | 1.5 | walk | 3.6 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Coos Bay | 0/0 |
| 0200 | 10/11 | 1.0 | walk | 1.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Coos Bay | 3/4 Walked around Walmart area while wife shopped. Staff at Burger King had me come inside so they could read the signs. |
| 0201 | 10/13 | 4.0 | walk | 3.8 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/2 Couple in car pull over to read sign. |
| 0202 | 10/15 | 5.8 | walk | 2.5 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Charlestown | 0/0 For first time, took dogs. |
| 0203 | 12/13 | 6.0 | walk | 7.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | North Bend | 0/0 Went to McCullough Memorial Bridge to give my Hu-man Day talk on the first no rain day in a week.. |
| 0204 | 12/30 | 6.0 | walk | 6.4 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire Lake | 1/1 Fishing license expires tomorrow and no rain today. 'Towed' kayak on cart which followed me, stopping when I stopped. |
| 0205 | 1/2/20 | 2.5 | walk | 3.8 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/1 To Empire boat ramp with baidarka. |
| 0206 | 1/24/20 | 0.5 | walk | 1.7 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/0 No rain day. |
| 0207 | 1/31/20 | 2.5 | walk | 4.5 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire Lake | 2/3 Some interest from the homeless. |
| 0208 | 02/02/2020 | 3.0 | walk | 1.5 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Coquille | 0/0 Rain, rain, mostly didn't go away. |
| 0209 | 2/12/20 | 0.5 | walk | 1.7 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/0 No rain. |
| 0210 | 3/9/20 | 2.0 | walk | 4.5 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Blythe, CA | 1/1 Touring the town. |
total |
---- |
128.5 hrs |
131 miles walk |
183 mi |
$37 |
$0.00 |
4 |
---- |
21/55 or 21 spoke, 55 paused |
210 day note: Day at Tucson Peace Fair, a political event. I made a list of those attending, most having paid for a 10'x10' space. The list may be of historical interest: Unscrewed Theater, vote for Yaba, Peace Paz, Jobs with Justice, Global Art Project for Peace, The Sound of Freedom (Quiet Tucson Skies anti-military jet planes), Tucson Folk Festival, Recycled Gifts, Green Party of Pima County, Southern Arizona BPS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions), YMCA, Humanitarian Aid is Never a Crime (border migrant aid), PDA Progressive Democrats of Arizona, Tucson Samaritans (Catholic), vote for Andres Cone, vote for Grisalva, vote for Betty Villepps, vote for Adam Regan, Sierra Club, Aberrant Ceramics, Aikido Kids, Watershed Management Group, Shot in the Dark Cafe, vote for Powers Hannnley, Obamacare, Sustainable Tucson, Veterans for Peace, Culture of Peace Alliance, Climate Smart Southwest, Unitarian Universalist Church, Salt of the Earth Labor College, Communist Party, Tucson Organic Gardeners, Death Penalty Alternatives, vote for Matiella, Shop Farmer's Markets, Animal Rights (no rodeo, animal free circuses...), Tucson Peace Center, Kochopus, Op1000 Paper Cranes, Tucson Ukulele Flash Mob, Area Wiccan-Pegan TAWN, Bridges Across Borders, Prescott College, Southern Arizona Total Awareness Network, Common Ground Mentoring, Seri, SMART Secure Guns, La Coalicion de Derechos Humanes, Desert Sky Community School, Indivisible Arizona, Face Painting, Mums Demand Action for Gun Sense, Tucson Psychedelic Society, Dope Sack for Cannabis, Tucson 9/11 Truth Action Project, Waffles T. Clown, Healthy Foods No GMO, vote Mark Manoil, Ayotzianpa, Anti Nuke, Rethink 911.org, Harmony and Health Foundation, NO in the Name of Humanity, Safer Arizona legalize Cannabis 2018, Veterans United for Cannabis, Hempirin, Revolutionary Grounds Books and Coffee, Tucson Quilt Project, vote Fehcia Chew, Pan Left Productions, Stop Spraying Tucson (anti-chemtrails). I came up with a cause I could support: 80% in 80 yrs.
The most remarkable encounter was with the young woman at the bus stop. She was expressive, in effect thinking out loud, so I could assess her. She was in the 1% of 'smart', but exceptionally uneducated for whatever reason. On the opposite extreme are the over-educated, e.g. most university professors, virtual idiot savant wordsmiths, the remarkably adroit (clever apes) who haven't the slightest sense of being delusional prattlers, i.e. 'dumb' (most are ignorant of their ignorance within their specialty and virtually all outside their specialty think they know enough to have opinions). And, yes, it takes one to know one, meaning I, being far more mediocre, am an idiot sub-savant.
----------------
Earth Day 2019: Wearing signs invites contact. I was stopped crossing a street by a young man going the other way, "a soul in agony" that I mostly listened to, after stepping over to a corner, for not quite an hour. He was the ancient mariner to my wedding guest, so I could but listen "like a three years' child" to his anguished laments. He didn't want money, or recognition, or approval, or drugs, or stuff or entertainment from life. All that he wanted, that he had been remorselessly denied, boiled down to wanting to be normal. He didn't want to smoke cigarettes, couldn't stop, and so kept on keeping on doing what he knew was bad for him, doing what was not normal for a healthy and sane human. The rest of his life was the same, and also not clearly of his making. He wanted to be at peace, but was driven to rage and despair. He wanted to live but had recently walked out onto the highway to stand see if God would answer his prayer. He couldn't understand why those who celebrated being bad seemingly had all they wanted, were seemingly blessed, while he, who wanted to be a good husband and a father, to be a giver to community and family, could have nothing he felt to be natural and normal. Why had he come to love a woman married to an abusive husband, who raped her and eventually killed her, yet why was he in the wrong, per the Book and those who preach it, and why would she have none of him, of his longing, of his sinful love? Why was her marriage blessed and why was he told he was wrong to covet one who was his brother's (in Christ) wife? Wrong, wrong, wrong, yet why did it feel so right to "covet" her? Why did God tell her to remain true to her lawful husband and forsake all others? Why was it wrong for him to want to be what she could not have or hold? And he was surrounded by good people doing bad things. Even his dog treated him like a dog to make him feel less than human. He couldn't understand all the horrors being perpetrated in this world by people who thought themselves better than he was. If he were E.A. Poe, he might have said, "And much of madness, more of sin, and horror the soul of the plot." In his list of wrongs humans were doing he may have said "I don't know why" a dozen or more times. And I don't either. He was "in agony" in this veil of tears, (aka this Earth that is heaven), but not in denial. There is his predicament, my predicament, and the human predicament. Humans of NIMH all, living the koyaanisqatsi life. I could but say I was glad to know there was such people as he in this world.
Before meeting him I was wondering if the relation between driving and insanity was one of correlation or causation. I don't know. But to go through life in a metal and glass box, or living/working in the same, moving too fast to see the nature of things when one could walk and just be there, is madness squared. Per a recent Scientific American article, a quarter of Americans will be diagnosed with a mental illness, and if the DSM-5 were complete, to include the pathologies afflicting those writing the DSM standards, likely all could be. Normalizing imbalance changes nothing. My wife thinks I'm Asperger's, and if so, I'd want to know, so I carefully considered her diagnoses, but per DSM-5 I don't meet the criteria, though while I may be "on the spectrum," I doubt there are any nerds who aren't, with most proud of it, so my pathology may have to await DSM-6. I am as comfortable hanging out with the homeless at a soup kitchen as I am having lunch with academics and scientists at a conference. I don't know what that means. I fail to see differences. The concept "different" carries within it a hidden "in kind", being short for "different in kind". I fail to see humans as different in kind from a chimp, orca, or cabbage. I don't have a Theory of Mind.or a soul. There is no I and no mind, just behavior involving a brain, with perhaps more verbal behavior than needed. I see only variation, a universe void of difference. There is naught but universal interconnection of illusory "things," alleged entities humans believe to be real insttead of parsings of a concept forming brain—a pervasive pathology.
I confess to thinking too much. I try to limit my internal prattle to clarifying what I don't understand. I thought of Donella Meadows words. "There is one leverage point that is even higher than changing a paradigm. That is to keep oneself unattached in the arena of paradigms, to stay flexible, to realize that no paradigm is 'true', that everyone, including those that sweetly sing your own worldview, has a tremendously limited understanding of an immense and amazing universe that is far beyond human comprehension. It is to 'get' at a gut-level the paradigm that there are paradigms, and to see that that itself is a paradigm, and to regard that whole realization as devastatingly funny. It is to let go into not-knowing, into what the Buddhists call enlightenment." So is there a thought that could end thought? I don't think so. But thinking makes nothing so, so there is nothing either good or bad. The sun moves, or appears to. Flowers riot. Birds soar overhead; a tree falls; a dandelion its golden head upholds even if there is no one to tell the tale. My self-accrediting mind chatters on. Cars are ever present. "And the people—ah, the people— They that dwell up in the steeple," always coming and going just the same, always in a circle, they're never here to stay, but swim in a sea of stories., a sea of error, ignorance, and illusion. But I repeat myself.
Walking on through the city, walled in, confined to sidewalks, I was greatly amused, but not yet devastated. I'll have to work harder to get the joke, with eyes unclouded by longing, "whether that means rigorously analyzing a system or rigorously casting off your own paradigms and throwing yourself into the humility of Not Knowing. In the end, it seems that mastery has less to do with pushing leverage points than it does with strategically, profoundly, madly, letting go and dancing with the system." Donella again, who not only seems to know Zhen, but I suspect is Zhen. Is she the woman who stood up? "True words are not pleasing. Pleasing words are not true." Laozi again. Learning to dance with the system is no easy matter, but I'm taking lessons from the one who has all the answers. I tripped and fell today.
On an end of summer's day, carried a new sign on pole going down between backpack straps into back pocket. Didn't have to carry and worked well, so a new to me protest invention.
| Day | Date |
Protest Hrs. |
Travel by |
Trip |
$ Cost |
Gift $ |
Tabs took | Place | People spoken to/who paused to read sign/ Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0211 | 9/10 | 4.1 | walk | 10.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Coos Bay | 0/0 Walked to an outdoor public event at the Mill Casino, but security forced me to leave because 'this is private property and you can't do that' (wear signs). But if dressed in a full burka wearing a suicide vest, I could, I'm guessing. |
| 0212 | 9/11 | 1.0 | walk | 3.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/0 Accompanied by dog. |
| 0213 | 9/12 | 1.0 | walk | 3.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/0 |
| 0214 | 9/15 | 2.0 | walk | 5.3 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Newmark | 0/0 |
| 0215 | 9/17 | 0.5 | walk | 1.5 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/0 |
| 0216 | 9/20 | 0.5 | walk | 1.5 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/0 Rain, summer dry times are ending. |
| 0217 | 9/23 | 2.2 | walk | 6.2 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Newmark | 1/1 Brief interest in 'They live' poster. |
| 0218 | 9/24 | 0.5 | walk | 1.5 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/0 |
| 0219 | 9/27 | 1.0 | walk | 3.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 1/1 Accompanied by dog. Bicyclist read one sign with 'will think about it' comment. |
| 0220 | 10/3 | 2.0 | walk | 5.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Newmark | 0/0 |
| 0221 | 10/5 | 1.0 | walk | 3.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/0 |
| 0222 | 10/6 | 0.5 | walk | 1.5 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/0 |
| 0223 | 10/7 | 1.0 | walk | 3.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/0 |
| 0224 | 10/8 | 1.0 | walk | 3.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/1 Bicyclist coming from behind slowed to read sign. |
| 0225 | 10/11 | 0.5 | walk | 1.5 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/0 |
| 0226 | 10/14 | 1.0 | walk | 3.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/0 |
| 0227 | 10/19 | 3.0 | walk | 7.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Las Vegas | 1/1 Not on the Strip, so pedestrian traffic not heavy. The question of what could we do arose. Understand our condition was my best guess as to what an individual could do. |
| 0228 | 10/21 | 1.5 | walk | 4.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Las Vegas | 1/1 'Like the sign.' |
| 0229 | 12/2 | 3.4 | walk | 7.9 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/0 Walked dog 3 miles in morning, but without signs. We had picked up a battery from a friend yesterday whose car wouldn't start and bought a new one, and instead of taking it by car, I used a dolley as a wheeled travois, attached to back of belt, to celebrate being able to at age 69, walking 11 miles, 3.2 pulling a battery. Peak car was 2017, and the car culture will pass away. For heavier loads a Chinese wheelbarrow is what works. |
| 0230 | 12/4 | 1.0 | walk | 3.0 |
$1.00 | $0.00 | 0 | Empire | 0/0 |
| 0231 | |||||||||
| 0232 | |||||||||
| 0233 | |||||||||
| 0234 | |||||||||
| 0235 | |||||||||
| 0236 | |||||||||
| 0237 | |||||||||
| 0238 | |||||||||
| 0239 | |||||||||
| 0240 | |||||||||
total |
---- |
hrs |
miles walk |
mi |
$0 |
$0.00 |
---- |
240 day note:
--------------------
Our inner hominid: A five-year-old with a machete and a vote.
