A well serviced and not beat on modern transmission should last 200,000 miles most of the time. But it can vary from transmission to transmission. Do you know if it was well cared for and had it's fluid changed often?

http://ridethecity.com/

Not sure if you mean an e-map or where you can order a paper one, but this waymarked google map seems quite accurate, althoug honly starts where the actual trail begins at 110th (i.e. does not include the marked streets up Fremont Ave.), 

I had a really snarky response typed, but you seem to be asking a genuine question, so I'll cut to the chase. It is a parking violation, though it's unlikely that a cop will happen by during that short time frame. However, those spots are designated for handicapped people for a reason. Please take the time to find a regular spot, even if it's just for a minute. Besides possibly getting a ticket, those batty old women can really pack a wallop with their purses and canes!

Here's my condensed bike maintenance checklist. This is by no means comprehensive, but I'll try to give you a rough idea.

1. Drive train
First the simple stuff. Lube the chain regularly. (Like, every few days if you ride daily.) Turn the bike upside-down and oil the whole chain, then shift through all the gears so they get oiled too. Then take a rag and wipe excess oil off the outside of the chain by holding the rag on the chain while turning the crank. You want oil in the rivets in the chain; the stuff on the outside does nothing but attract dust.
Every so often, take your chain off, clean with solvent, dry, and then put back on and re-lube. This is simple and totally worth learning to do yourself. You will need a chain breaker, which you can find at your local bike co-op, or you can buy your own for <$10. While you have the chain off, you can clean the crud off your gears and rear derailleur (the thing that moves the chain from gear to gear) with a stiff brush or rag. Old socks are good for running between the gears. Ideally, if you're riding daily, this should be done every one to two weeks (note: in reality, I'm too lazy to do it that often, as are most bike commuters I know, but I'm talking theory here).
Cleaning your drive train regularly will probably solve some of the shifting issues, plus, the more often you clean it, the slower your gears will wear down - the oily, pasty crud that forms on gears acts like sandpaper and wears your gears down faster.

2. Shifters/derailleurs
Check the tension on your derailleur (shifter) cables, and check that you can shift through all the gears. There are a lot of potential reasons why your bike might not be shifting smoothly, too many to really get into here. I can virtually guarantee, though, that if you haven't maintained your bike in a while, your shifter cables need to be tightened, as they stretch out over time. Tightening the shifter cables requires only a wrench and a pair of pliers, and you can easily learn to do it yourself.

3. Brakes
Check the tension on your brakes regularly. The brake cables also tend to stretch out over time, making braking less efficient. Make sure you can stop quickly. You should be able to brake with full force without the brake levers touching the handlebars. Make sure your brake pads are aligned with the wheel rims (when you brake, they should be in full contact with the wheel rim, not hanging over the edge, or touching the tire). Make sure the brake pads don't rub on your wheels when you ride. Check your brake pads for wear, and debris. Brake pads need to be replaced once in a while, just like on a car.

4. Wheels
Check that wheels are in true. Turn the bike upside down and spin the wheels. Do an eyeball check - are there any obvious wobbles? (You might also be able to see these wobbles while you're riding.) Are there any spots where the wheel rubs on the brake pads? Feel the spoke tension by grabbing the spokes, two neighboring spokes at a time, and squeezing them together. Are any of them noticeably loose? If you notice any of the above things, your wheels need truing. (Another complicated topic that I won't get into here, but your friendly mechanic or bike co-op staff can help you.)

5. The bearings inside your wheel hubs, headset (where the handlebars attach to the frame) and bottom bracket (where the pedals turn) need to be taken out, cleaned, and re-packed every so often. I've heard a lot of different opinions on how often this should be done, but I'd say minimum once a year for the wheels and bottom bracket, ideally once every three to six months. To be honest, I almost never touch my headset, because it's much less exposed to water and dirt than other moving parts, but some people will tell you it should be cleaned regularly too. If you take your bike to a mechanic for an annual tune-up, they will sometimes re-pack your wheel hubs and bottom bracket as part of the tune-up package. Ask.

6. Tires
Change when the side walls dry out and crack, or when the treads wear out, or when you get a large puncture (e.g., from running over a screw or a big piece of glass). Keep a tube patching kit and a couple of spare inner tubes around the house for fixing flats. Ask the staff at the bike shop to help you get the correct sizes of tires and tubes - it's not always obvious.
I always say, if you own only one bike tool, it should be a pair of plastic tire levers, for taking off and putting on tires. You can get these for a buck or two at the bike store. (A lot of people use screwdrivers for changing tires, causing a lot of unnecessary flats.)

There are a lot of good bike maintenance books out there. I can recommend these:

http://www.amazon.com/Big-Blue-Book-Bicycle-Repair/dp/0976553007

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_45?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=zinn+and+the+art+of+mountain+bike+maintenance&sprefix=zinn+and+the+art+of+mountain+bike+maintenance (this is more unorthodox and personal - a great DIY book)

There is a lot of information about bike maintenance to be had on the internet.

If you are good with cars, you should be able to learn to do any of the things I mentioned above without too much trouble, assuming you have the time and interest. If you want to learn more about your bike, I highly recommend getting involved with your local bike co-op. They often offer help with repairs and maintenance, and courses on bike mechanics, and they have tools you can use, including a lot of bike-specific tools. Even if you don't plan on being a DIY mechanic, it's worth it to learn some bike basics and terminology. I'm unfortunately not very familiar with the local resources for cyclists in Seattle, not being from there, but here's one place I know of:`http://www.thebikery.org/

There you go. That's kind of a long-winded answer, but I hope it helps.

The 3 blocks of angle parking on 11th Ave between Pine and Denny have the electronic meters and a 4 hour maximum.

http://web1.seattle.gov/sdot/seattleparkingmap/

You are right to be terrified. I'd get something good for campus or anywhere in the udistrict. And it doesn't hurt if your bike isn't the nicest one on the rack either. UW is the numero-uno hotspot for bike theft around here. Spend the money.

Up in Greenwood if you have a semi-decent cable-lock, you should be OK leaving it while you shop; but I wouldn't leave a bike locked up for more than a couple of hours pretty much anywhere.

From my co-worker, Davey Oil:
The Bikery is a great place to go to get help wrenching on your own bike in a safe and supportive environment. There are two ways to pay for the use of tools and the friendly guidance of the volunteers at the Bikery. One way is to pay cash or check, five dollars an hour. Another way is to spend a little time volunteering first. You can come in any time the Bikery is open and the volunteer staff will find a job for you to do, regardless of your previous experience with bike repair. In return, you’ll earn ten dollars an hour in credit, which you can use to pay for “stand time” or used parts for your project. The Bikery’s model is very similar to that of the Bike Kitchen, with a little more emphasis given to providing access to folks traditionally marginalized by bike culture and folks who are actively impacted by systemic oppression in our larger culture, LGBTQ folks, people of color and women come to mind, but of course the list is shamefully long. With that as the focus of the project, all people are welcome to stop by the Bikery’s space at 1265 S Main St #104, (entrance on 14th Ave) Saturdays 12-6, Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays 2-8.

It's a mobile radar station mounted on an oil platform. It is an X-band radar that is part of US Missile Defense. Boeing recently won a $27 million contract to do upgrades and maintenance on it.

If you go boating, make sure to stay 100 yards away. The Coast Guard will nab you if you get too close. National Security, 'n whatnot.

Here's a brief article in the Seattle Times, and a more detailed explanation from the Peninsula Daily News

Certainly not my area of expertise, but I notice for just 20 dollars more you get larger wheels (20 inch alloy spoked) in a wheel guard design, a 16% drop in overall weight, a rear storage area, and (2) five point seat harnesses that aren't mentioned in the EZ write-up.

InStep Rocket on Amazon

Larger wheels would give a smoother ride over all surfaces and the wheel guard design appears to present just a little more protective side structure.

The manufacturer lists this upgraded model at over $100 higher suggested retail sale price than the EZ. Look over the info on each model on their website.

InStep Manufacturers website 

One point about the Hondas being expensive -- they are expensive because they are well-made cars that will run FOREVER and continue to get great gas mileage well beyond 200k. It depends on what you want to pay for.

I drive a 2003 Subaru Forester, and while yes, it does make me feel like a soccer mom, it is comfortable and a great "adventuring" car. I'm the only person in my group of friends who has a reliable car, so when I got it, I wanted something that would carry four people plus gear into the mountains for several days (or several bicycles, or whatever). I love the hatchback-style trunk door, as it is great for standing under and gearing up/changing in the rain. It has higher clearance than most other cars in its class (which is why I didn't go for the sexier and sportier Impreza), and is AWESOME on dirt roads and snow (it has AWD). Mine is a manual, and we sometimes end up in some pretty remote places with terrrrrrrible roads. It hasn't let me down yet.

The gas mileage is ok, not brilliant -- I get between 23-28 miles to the gallon, depending on driving (city vs freeway).

On the money side, older subarus can be very reasonable in terms of price, and maintain their value for a long, long time. A well-cared for subaru will go to 250-300k miles. I bought my car when it was six years old and 75k miles for $11,500. This was the oldest used car that my bank would let me buy with a pre-approved loan, and they insisted that they would only issue the loan if the car was priced at or below Blue Book value. The car was originally listed at $14,500. The dealer, after some thought, was happy to sell me the car for Blue Book value and trade in on my old car, since I had the loan in hand.

This is the second subaru I've owned, and I'm very happy with it. That said, we had subarus when I was growing up (learned to drive in one!), and I've now thoroughly drunk the seattle/subaru/snow/outdoor craziness kool-aid.

So, your own mileage may vary (ha!), but it's definitely worth looking at the older subarus. If you go this route, feel free to ask further questions -- I can give you a sense of what to look for in an older car.

Tires are supposed to deform at the point of contact with the pavement. That's what gives them their grip; otherwise you'd be cornering on a point of contact about the size of a cockroach's butt.

It sounds more like you don't like riding on the gooshier feeling tires. What width are your current tires? They sound like 28 or 32 mm based the max pressure.

Despite the max pressure being a lawyer's number you don't really want to exceed it. With that in mind, get some less gooshy tires, assuming your rims can handle them. Road racing/training tires are awesome, and surprisingly flat resistant. 25 or 28 mm is a good width for Seattle, I like 25. I used a pair of Vittoria Diamante Pros for almost two years and probably 3k miles with one flat. Now I'm using some Vittoria Rubino Pro Techs which I like even more and are cheaper than the Diamantes.

Your stickers are your tabs. Go to your DMV equivalent and explain the problem in person. Then, when you get your new stickers (which may require paying for them again, unfortunately, especially if you never reported the original tabs stolen), install them on your plates and use a razor blade to slash across the stickers in an X pattern. That way, if someone tries to steal them again, they'll just get a useless fragment and it's usually much easier to get them replaced if you have 75% of the tab instead of 0%.

Did you drive it home from the detailer or was it a they come to you deal? Did you try to jump it?

The simplest explanation is that the detailer drained the battery by leaving the door open or playing the radio or something while he was working. Actually starting your engine takes significantly more energy than any of the electronic accessories, so the battery can be discharged to the point that it won't start, but all the gizmos will work just fine. Often this results in the clickity click sound.

I'd start out trying to jump it if you haven't tried that already. It could also just be a problem with the battery or the starter and the timing is just a coincidence.

By the time you're looking at a car that old, the condition of the particular example you're looking at is much more important than make and model. I would take a car with a glovebox full of service receipts over an ostensibly more reliable make any day.

Subarus are trickier than usual used car bets because (in addition to oil problems and head gasket issues on some some models) they have very sensitive all-wheel drive systems. That AWD system is by far the most capable in any reasonably-priced car, but it comes with the drawback of being very sensitive to abuse. This includes serious damage that can be done by circumference mismatch on the tires-- in other words if all four tires are not the same type and about the same wear it will seriously damage the transmission over time. On a car with 100k miles, it is basically impossible to know if someone drove around with the spare on for too long or if someone had a blow out and didn't replace all 4 tires like you're supposed to. They're reasonably reliable and capable cars, especially if you drive in the snow a lot, but I think they're risky used car picks.

As for Hondas and Toyotas, they are absolutely reliable past 100K if they've received reasonably good care. However, they hold their value quite well so they're expensive. In my opinion, the quality of the domestics (GM and Ford at least) has caught up to a degree that the huge premium Japanese cars command used is no longer justified. In other words, you end up paying much more for a 100k Toyota Corolla than a 100K Chevy Malibu (for example) OR you end up being able to buy a much newer Malibu for the same money. Even though the Toyota might be slightly more reliable on paper, your Chevy is half the age and will end up being more reliable for your money. The Koreans also hugely improved during the last decade (2000's) and so used Hyundais especially can be good bets for the same reason.

Either way, getting a prospective car inspected by an independent mechanic is much more important that fretting over what particular model you're looking at. Cars that are inherently unreliable really aren't sold in this country any more and so ANY car made in the last 15-20 years can be reliable at least past 200k if treated properly.

There are three reasons Interstate 5 jogs west in that area:

1) To avoid the electrical substation in the vicinity of NE 75th St (props to the Rev. for getting that one)

2) To avoid Northgate Mall (props to Sacrelicious on that one).

3) To avoid the Maple Leaf Reservoir at Roosevelt and NE 82nd.

HistoryLink, the great Seattle history website run by the Museum of History and Industry has a really good rundown of all this info:

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=4166

It's probably a question of liability for pedicab company owners. A guy driving/biking for a new pedicab company wiped out on Cedar St in 2008, and one of the passengers was killed. Apparently, the cause was a mechanical problem in the pedicab itself. And a steep hill. There are some interesting comments on this thread: http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/archives/145457.asp.

Actual winter tires are probably overkill for the Seattle area unless you go into the mountains a lot, but a good set of AT tires can perform pretty well in snow without having the drawbacks of winter tires.

You might look at something like the BF Goodrich KO Radials: http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-selector/name/all-terrain-t-a-ko-tires

These are AT's so they're designed primarily as an on-road tire, but they're just about the most aggressive tread you can get in an on-road tire. I had a set on an old Toyota pickup, which was a 4x4, but they did pretty well in snow even in 2wd. They're also great on wet dirt roads.

Option B minus the tarp is probably the best option. Letting a car sit for a few months isn't a problem at all. Just make sure the gas tank is full to prevent condensation in the tank. Fuel stabilizer is cheap peace of mind, but probably isn't necessary for a few months.

Also, don't bother putting a tarp over it-- unless you have an actual purpose-made car cover, a tarp will just trap moisture and scratch the paint. Just leaving a car out in the winter isn't bad for it at all-- it's driving around in the snow and sand and salt that ruins cars out in snow country.

Pulling the battery and storing it inside is also definitely a good idea, although if it's a few years old, you might just plan on getting a new one when you get back. If nothing else, you should just disconnect the (-) cable. Also, if the car is due for an oil change, do that now.

Was your bike damaged in any way?

If so, look into small claims court. Take pictures of the BMW and your bike in its current position. Get a picture of the plates on the BMW. See if anyone else saw it.

If there is damage you can probably get the money from them through court.

You can also leave a message on the BMW and tell them that someone told you what happened and that you filed a report with the police. They may be willing to contact you and pay for any damages. You could also politely say that you have pictures of their plates, and are willing to go to small claims court.

Up to you how threatening you really wanna be about it.

Gilman heading up the west side of Queen Anne from 15th doesn't seem as steep as the other routes.

This is the relevant RCW page: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.61.055

It doesn't specifically mention this situation, just that "Vehicle operators turning right or left shall stop to allow other vehicles lawfully within the intersection control area to complete their movements.", which to me doesn't necessarily mean you can't enter the intersection.

However, probably the reason why people think this is illegal is that it is explicitly illegal in California and it is of course a well-accepted fact that all the bad drivers in the Seattle area are, in fact, Californians.

The 3000 mile/3 month oil change is a myth perpetuated by Jiffy Lube. Almost no cars made in the last 20 years has had a 3000 mile change interval, even for "severe" service (my '86 Honda has a 7,500 mile one, for example). 5,000 to 7,500 and 6 month to 12 month are more common. Your owner's manual is the absolute authority on this-- follow it, not the oil change place or random yahoos on the internet.

Fight it in person.

Additional Options:
Cry a little, and make it clear you made your first ever driving mistake and don't have any way to pay for it, let alone have it mar your record. Mention the new driving job you just interviewed for that you'll lose if the boss finds out about the ticket.

Mr Cop, by the way, was telling you in hardly-uncertain subtext, that stopping is actually important, and while he nailed you for the stop sign, he doesn't approve of the hefty fine/punishment. (His job's law enforcement, not law making.)

Well you insert it, and then (at a later time) remove it quickly.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/smarterhighways/

my understanding is that no, that tower is not staffed on a regular basis. WSDOT Bridge and tunnel operations are coordinated from a central office in Seattle via computer and camera. Additionally, it is also my understanding that openings of the 520 bridge have to be arranged with WSDOT and scheduled well, well in advance.

Openings are very infrequent because there is relatively little difference in clearance between the maximum height of the 520 highrises (44 feet clearance for ships) and the maximum height of the I-90 East Channel Bridge (57 feet).

I-90 doesn't have a drawspan. If a boat is too tall to sail under the East Channel Span, too bad. There's really not a lot of reason for a tall ship to sail in between 520 and I-90.

The very limited industrial operations there still are on the lake are concentrated north of the lake (Kenmore, etc) where no bridge crossing is necessary, and south of both bridges (Renton) where maximum height is 57 feet due to the non-movable East Channel Bridge.

So (still with me?) on the odd occasion that some sort of industrial ship with cranes and a tall superstructure might have to pass through, 520 would only have to open if the ship was taller than 44 feet but shorter than 57 feet.

That's not a huge range, so openings of 520 are extremely rare. They usually make the evening news. Hence, that tower is not normally staffed.

At least that's what I learned when I wrote a research paper on floating bridges in 8th grade. Things may have changed since then.

DON'T USE WD-40!!!!

Ok so you can use it, but ONLY to clean. WD-40 is a very light lubricant that will displace the thicker lubricant in the chain and not only encourage rust, but lead to its premature destruction. Grab an old toothbrush and scrub off the surface rust with a degreaser (if it doesn't come off easily, replace it) and then lubricate with an appropriate chain lube. Boeshield makes a good product. Next time you have to leave it outside in the rain, coat the chain with excess lubricant or bring the bike inside. Also, give the chain a lite coating once a week or more often under heavy use or wet conditions.

You're on a Sea-Tac pickup, so the relevant rule might be with the Port of Seattle, not the city. Was this a Yellow cab, or STITA? I know Yellow won the contract from STITA, but I don't know when the changeover is/was. You could try complaining to all three of these entities and see what happens; it's definitely against the rules.

The correct thing to have done would have been to say "that dollar's coming off your tip, you know" and then taking TWO off what you were planning to give him, or maybe even stiffing him completely. And I say that as a hardcore big tipper. Letting the meter tick over is bush league B.S.

I guess this is not really an answer to your questions per se. Even though it gets a bad rap, I've had good luck with craigslist selling bikes. Usually you'll be luck to even get 50% of what a bike is worth from a shop because they want to make a profit when they sell it back.

I know Recycled Cycles does consignment sales but keeps 30% and says that the bike must be worth at least $600 dollars. That would have to be a pretty heavily upgraded bmx to be worth $600, so I'm guessing that this option wouldn't apply.