By Andy Valencia We moved onto Vashon more than 20 years ago, and although there were occupants in Vashon Village, most times when I walked through, the feeling I got was “ghost town.” Eleven years ago, Cliff Goodman established himself as a local brewer whose products eventually made their way onto the ferries and to…
By Andy Valencia I built a nice device for a huge company (well, I did most of the system design and all of the software). It made lots of money, and – yay! – I was a rock star at my company. Sic transit gloria mundi. I measured its performance, and determined that it could,…
By Andy Valencia In the years we’ve lived on Vashon, I’ve read many an article on Vashon Island Fire and Rescue. All too often, I have finished the article befuddled and no more informed than when I started. As I join the club of people who have written about VIFR, I’m finding a newfound sympathy…
By Andy Valencia While we wait for Washington State Ferries to announce any initial findings in the Cathlamet accident, the Vashon Loop has been gathering background information to help interpret what we’ll eventually be told about this incident. An important piece of the Cathlamet’s history is its tendency to crash into docks; thus, it was…
By Andy Valencia When I was the manager of all software development at a fairly large startup, I made the worst management decision of my career. Two of my top technical leads came to me with a design tradeoff which they just could not settle between themselves. They each told me their position, and I…
You believe something which isn’t true. It’s the human condition, so you should get usedto it. I first ran into this in 2nd grade, when my teacher announced that porcupines flicked their tails to fire quills like missiles. I had just read a science book which refuted this old folk tale, and I corrected my…
The tireless folks over at West Seattle Blog note that the Community Advisory Group is meeting https://westseattleblog.com/2022/08/fauntleroy-ferry-dock-project-community-advisory-group-to-reconvene/ WSF has ruled out new locations, so whatever happens, it’ll involve our current Fauntleroy dock location. It’s a Zoom meeting, so check in on the call if it’s of interest! WSF: What We’ll Study More
M/V Cathlamet, WSF stock image 8/2/2022 We have requests in to both WSF and NTSB, but the latest news came to us from local media–including the excellent West Seattle Blog–that all crew came back clear on drug tests. The captain–still unnamed–has resigned. Key questions we’ve put in to WSF are the condition of the captain,…
7/28/2022 14:49 Islander (and ex-Loop editor) Steve Allen, delayed this morning when his ferry crashed, is now stuck in Seattle due to a truck carrying oxygen tanks catching on fire. https://www.q13fox.com/news/i-5-south-shut-down-in-downtown-seattle-after-vehicle-with-propane-oxygen-tanks-catches-fire