However, a strange phenomenon seems to be rustling through the area here- a conscious effort to reclaim the local jargon. I’m hearing old trade language like “skookum” and “saltchuck” again, words that seemed to have all but fled the public forum in recent years. People grinning at the geoduck vendor at the neighborhood market, using “clam gun” as a verb, trying to see their tillicums a bit more often.

It reminds me for some reason of the split in Serbo-Croatian that intensified during the civil war in the mid-1990s, where each area emphasized its local quirks to the point of distinct dialect. I’m sure people speaking “American English” will continue to get by just fine here, but I do hear a returning localization more and more, especially in the public markets and used bookstores that seem to be becoming social hubs in the neighborhoods here.

So when you hear someone speaking Cascadian out there, thank the powerdown.

Further reading:

Seattle P-I

Chinook Rudiments

Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon

Do You Speak Cascadian?

Cascadian English

A nice side benefit of people getting closer to their land.

You can read more about the Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary program here.

The first meeting will be the monthly session of the long-running Seattle Peak Oil Awareness group, where I’ll talk for a minute and hand out some promo cards. Tear-off sheets will be going up around the University of Washington campus and some neighborhood businesses tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Seattle WorldWithoutOil Meetup

(1) How much money have you lost since April 30? Tell us the top reasons: Paid out in fuel surcharges? Lost income? Lost property?

I personally haven’t lost a lot because I already rent, share a house, and do the things to which people have had to step down… I guess I’ve been slumming it the whole time. My savings have been in cash and metals for about a year prior, so I haven’t lost money at least.

The business I work for is paying more in fuel surcharges, and the cost of ingredients has risen sharply, so it has definitely lost profit, as well as business since people have less disposable income. Thankfully I’m still employed so I still have income. I probably won’t be getting a raise anytime soon, but loss of future income is low on my list of things to worry about right now.

(2) How much less fuel do you use since April 30?

About the same, honestly, which is pretty little. I still walk to work, and ride the bus when things are too far away (or I’m too tired) to walk; I can bike when the weather cooperates. I sold my car back in March because I had barely moved it in 3 months… it was old but got excellent gas mileage, or I would have sold it earlier. I’m more judicious about my utility use (water, gas, electric) nowadays so that is indirectly saving fuel I guess.

(3) Has your quality of life declined or increased? What are the top reasons?

My personal quality of life hasn’t really declined. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s increased, but I lived a practical existence before the crisis started so things people have learned to incorporate were often things I did anyway (walking instead of driving short distances, shopping at farmers’ markets and CSAs, sharing housing to save money). It’s harder to find things that are in short supply, but it hasn’t caused me undue hardship.

It is clear, however, that other people are having a tough time- the Wamu failure was a huge problem here, since this is its home territory. A lot of folks were house-poor already and this tipped the scales.

My dude said that a lot of smaller local farmers have stepped up to fill the national shipping gap here, and some things are still coming in from northern California here too; shipments that can’t make it over the Rockies are staying here in  Cascadia and coming up 101 or I-5 instead. So far piracy is less of an issue on our stretch of shipping highway (from the California border to the customs crossing at Blaine) than it is in almost every other part of the country, save the Northeast. So things are tight but holding together.

Pay attention to the last paragraph, though. That ain’t so good.

Spoiler:

This is a real cheatsheet from my produce guy at work; obviously it is not top secret info. However, it is unedited. So yes, the corn info is for real.

We’re not out of oil. Get a grip.

I know it’s counterintuitive since we’re staring $6.50 gas in the face, and the food distro problem is rearing its ugly head, but the point we’re at is where demand has finally outstripped supply… we’re now using up oil faster than we can pump it out of the ground, and the amount we’re bringing up is decreasing. It is just more scarce than it used to be. (No shit, you say. Well, thank you for finally paying attention.) Clearly we’re finally getting some real demand destruction now that things are so expensive, but think back; people thought the world was going to end at $2.00 a gallon, then $2.50, then it was “oh, people will get out of their cars at $3.00 a gallon”…and on and on. Even at $3.50, people bitched and moaned, but they kept filling their cars and driving alone to work every day. Europe had $6.00 gas for years and functioned impressively. North Americans have been spoiled brats.

We still have a lot of oil, though not as much as we need to run things the way we did before. But we need to STOP SETTING FIRE to what we have left. Too many other things need oil- plastics, medicines, tools, things that can keep us safe and healthy- to just waste it on internal combustion.

Looks like Matt Savinar is on my wavelength; there’s a (less ranty) discussion of the bell curve on his front page.

My parents live in an inner-ring northern suburb, and they say their little corner of the world is alright at the moment- they have a large garden, can get to work without cars when they need to, and have known most of their neighbors for over a decade. The folks next door to them had been talking about selling their house and retiring to Arizona, but now they seem to be hitting the brakes on that idea in light of… recent events. My father is a school bus driver, so his job is secure; the kids still need to get to school, even though diesel fuel is taking an ever larger bite out of the school district’s budget. He says parents are still complaining about the program cuts that have gotten pushed through to help take the pressure off… field trips and far-flung sports events aren’t being subsidized anymore, since they’re scrambling to cover everyday costs. I imagine the less “essential” subjects and extracurricular things might get closer scrutiny as this continues.

My stepmother is a nurse at the University of Washington; she will never be unemployed, no matter how rocky things get. Health care always does business. It’s interesting to see how she’s adapted her commute though! She used to drive to the U District, then park and walk the Burke-Gilman a mile or so just for the exercise… now she’s using the excellent metro pass the University gives everyone and just taking the bus the whole way down.

They live at the opposite end of the Burke from me, so I can bike up to see them in about 45 minutes when the need arises. We’re exceedingly lucky compared to a lot of people.