Author: RonTopofIt

RonTopofIt is a complex personality, as are most of the small breed of modern day renaissance millionaires. He wishes more people were like him and yet believes that it takes all kinds. You've met RonTopofIt many times, you just don't remember him.

The heat is…on

A few weeks ago sac-eats wrote a post “encouraging” folks that read this here web log to vote for it as “Best Local Blog” and/or “Best Local Website”.  Local blogger FFT commented that this effort to garner votes was “shameless”.  Well, via FFT, we learn that there is “a major upset brewing” for Best Blog.  Jeff, over at Eyes for the Brambles, picked up on this post as well.

I can’t guess the upset. Sacrag and hecksac won last year. Have people grown tired of snark and food and rock show reviews?

Well, Sacramento, what local blogs do you think have a chance at taking home the top spot this year?  What makes a good local blog?  Random comments about comments?  Hard hitting local media watchdogging?  Food reviews?  Your random comments are welcome…

An unique twist on a common occurrence

We’re at the point here at the Sac Rag that we don’t even bother reporting on “normal” crashes involving a vehicle and a living room (unless it’s a two-fer, of course), but this one is different. While Sacramento isn’t making a name for itself on any “best place to…” list, it does continue to bring its “A” game in this arena.

Sacramento police say around 9:20 p.m. one of its officers and the driver of a Honda crashed into one another on Village Star Drive and Franklin Boulevard. The impact sent the Honda into the living room of a nearby home.

Wow, huh? I wonder what happened. High speed pursuit? Drunk driver? Man, what could it have been? I must read on…

Police say there are no indications that speed or alcohol lead to the crash.

Oh, ok, Police, sure that’s enough for me. I’ll move on now.

Leatherby’s Celebrates 25 Years

Leatherby’s Family Creamery is celebrating 25 years of iced goodness by offering it’s original menu items at their original menu prices today from 11AM to 11PM.

From the Sac Bee article:

 The price cuts apply to all items that were on the original menu, such as the company’s monster-size banana split, which uses a half-gallon of ice cream. It’s on the menu today for $10.49. On Aug. 14, it’ll cost only $3.80.

The hot fudge sundaes that today are $7.29 will be rung up at $2.50. The shops’ crab sandwiches will go for $3.99, compared to the current $11.99.

Yet another reason Sacramento should be on a Best Places To… list.

Besides, what’s wrong with Sacramento?

Sacramento based editorial writer for the LA Times, Bill Stall, writes an interesting article about Sacramento’s failure to make any “best places to” list. He does make you wonder, after listing all of the usual attributes, why we continue to get a bad rap.

I happen to live in Sacramento, which rarely makes any list of best places. My wife and I have talked of moving some place with lower housing costs as we both approach retirement, but have yet to find the perfect place.

I do find it curious that when the Internet boom was in full swing several years ago (approaching a decade, huh? wow.) the River City looked mighty appealing with its affordable housing, tree lined streets, and proximity to all things cool. And now folks talk of moving to areas with lower housing costs and populations. See a pattern forming here? Sacramento has been wined and dined until it put out and now is being kicked to the curb. Was Sacramento too easy? Should she have played hard to get? Most of our loyal readers can answer these questions as they’ve been through the bad, the good, and the bad again.

What does Sacramento have to do to get back on the “best places to” lists?

Sacramento gets Real (again)

I am not sure how I missed this one (oh, that’s right, I had no idea the show was still on television), but the 38th installment of MTV’s “The Real World” will feature a local gal by the name of Shauvon. Fans of the show might put together that this marks the second consecutive season of the show featuring a Sacramento native. Not to mention the 29th cycle of American’s Next Top Model which included yet another River City product.

So, rather than go on and on about how lame The Real World is or how they simply cast the same “characters” each season, I want to know what you think about Sacramento’s knack for producing reality show contestants. Are we just so diverse and cultured that we can’t help but kick out well rounded, dynamic individuals? Or perhaps our town is just now moving into the mainstream of hip?

How says you, Sacramento?

Speaking of fact or fiction…

There is an interesting article on money.cnn.com about JetBlue’s new fall fare sale. Flights from Sacramento, CA to/from New York/JFK are priced at $149 each way and Sacramento to/from Long Beach are $49 each way. However, the detail that caught my eye was JetBlue’s announcement that they have been named…

“The Official Airline of Springfield” — the hometown city of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson — to celebrate the summer theatrical release of The Simpsons Movie.

Uh, uh, say what? This is an airline, right? That flies high in the air with hundreds of human beings on board? Oh wait, there’s more you say?

In honor of America’s favorite animated family of comedy, JetBlue also unveiled its first-ever specialty aircraft, christened “Woo-Hoo, JetBlue!” and featuring an image of Homer along with a permanent logo of its new Springfield status. To celebrate Fall travel, the low-fare airline is offering special sale fares for Springfielders and non-Springfielders across the country.

What’s next? Do I get a Bart Simpson Black Box toy with each round trip ticket purchased? Perhaps a Milhouse fuselage complete with air sickness bags?

Damn those mossies!

So I’m reading that four northern counties will undergo aerial spraying for West Nile virus beginning Monday and I couldn’t help but wonder how this came about so quickly.  Then I hop over to sacbee.com and check out an article about two new cases of West Nile being discovered this week.

From the Sac Bee article:

District officials were sharply criticized in 2005 when, during a West Nile epidemic, they began aerial spraying in Sacramento and Yolo counties with little public notice. As a result, the district initiated an intensive awareness campaign to publicize every facet of its mosquito control efforts.

From the News 10 article:

The decision follows Thursday’s announcement that two human cases of the virus have been detected in the county.

Now that’s an intense effort to publicize EVERY facet, huh?

Like the weather…

Forecasting the weather in Sacramento during the summer months can seem a touch repetitive. Warm this morning, hot in the afternoon, the evening will remain warm. Tomorrow? See today. However, if you are an Internet junkie like me you have no doubt been frustrated with the poor level of detail provided online. That’s not to say that there aren’t enough resources online or 5 day forecasts with sun icons lined up back to back. But, when I am searching the Internet for weather forecasting I’m basically looking for a “cut to the chase” sentence or two. Well, my friends, I have found such a sentence or two at kcra.com. As always, I must disclaim that I’m never first on the scene with anything technology related so please forgive me if this is old news.

Continue reading “Like the weather…”

Google’s free SMS service is for real

I’m always about 6 months to 18 years late to the technology game. As such I am just now getting my cellular phone hooked up with SMS (Short Messaging Service), or “texting” as the kids like to call it. And while I am still fumbling about with my opposable thumbs and my text messaging shorthand (AAMOF, I’m a total NUB…or something), I have come across a free service from Google that is quite handy.

Google SMS allows you to text a search query to 466453(“GOOGLE” on most devices) and your results will be sent back to you in a matter of seconds. It’s really quite nifty. The site offers up a cheat sheet of search terms you can use (Local weather, restaurants, flight updates, movie times, calculator, and even conversions) and the whole thing is free (you know, you have to have the text messaging service from your cellular provider, of course).

So the next time you are out and about and need some quick directions or a movie time close to you, give it a shot. Now, if they just made cell phones that could take pictures I’d be all set!

Survey Says…

You Peet’s regulars have surely noticed the sweet lady asking folks to fill out a survey while waiting in line at the Lyon Village location. She is offering a free cup of joe just for filling out the two page survey which mostly deals with demographics and coffee drinking patterns.

So, first and foremost, we love us a free anything here at the Sac Rag so head on down to Peet’s and hop in line.

Now, back to my point. Today I struck up a conversation with the gal. We discussed the Lyon Village location as well as the others in the area. Of course, this lead to our thoughts about a redesign. I freaked her out I am sure with my overly thought out plans for renovation as well as my opinion on the confusion that occurs from time to time when the coffee bean counter doubles as a coffee line which then forces the patrons to create a feeder line on the fly. This doesn’t always work out so well when everyone is not on board with the idea. She humored me and provided feedback. She also mentioned that some folks had suggested a line be created for just drip coffee orders and one for specialty drinks. If you are reading this survey lady, I apologize for my enthusiasm and references to sketches and blueprints I have available upon request.

My assumption is this has to do with the pending remodel first discussed on this here web log last month. You insiders care to chime in?