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.

Here’s a tip

I had occasion the other night to order food for pick up. It was a basic transaction. The bag of food was sitting on the counter with my name on the receipt. I waited for someone to greet me and when they did I pointed to my bag and said I was here to pick up a to go order. I handed over exact change (Runnergirl, wink wink) and said “Thank you.” As I got into my car I realized that I was “supposed” to tip in that situation…or was I?

So I ask you, whether it’s Domino’s pizza or California Pizza Kitchen, what’s the general rule on tipping with “to go” orders for pick up?  And, yes, Reservoir Dogs quotes are highly encouraged.

Sign this…or else

On Thursday, February 15 at 7pm the Arden Arcade Incorporation Committee will be holding a petition drive celebration and informational meeting at Arcade Church (3927 Marconi Avenue). For those of you who haven’t been accosted by the for hire signature gatherers in the area recently, some folks in the Arden Arcade area are trying to incorporate. In order to do so they must “obtain” a certain amount of signatures from the public.

Now I’m all for taking it to the streets and letting the people decide, but these signature gatherers are just plain jack-holes. So much so that I am all for voting against incorporation in protest.

Has anyone else encountered these scoundrels? Runner-eats? Sac-girl? What say you?

Rules of Endangerment

This Ron Artest animal cruelty (allegedly) thing keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. Cbs13.com reported over the weekend that Ron “is no stranger to controversy over the treatment of his jobs” (seriously, Cbs13.com, do you even read your own stories?).

As for Artest’s dog “Socks”, CBS13’s Rafer Weigel reports that the dog is still very thing, but vets do expect the dog to make a full recovery.

Meaning the dog has a lot of long hair covering its eyes? And it walks around with a derby on? Oh wait, that was Cousin It, huh? At any rate, you get my point. When we at the Sac Rag publish a post we are immediately hammered with emails pointing out each typo or grammatical error. But I digress…

It appears that Ron Artest’s neighborhood association adopted new rules over the weekend.

It’s one of dozens of new rules the neighborhood association adopted over the weekend.

Well, Sacramento, you haven’t made us laugh in a long time. How’s-a-bout you let us know what other new rules you think they adopted over the weekend.

More fun with CC&R

Following up on this discussion from 2005 regarding CC&R, it appears the bill (AB 394) that went to the Governor’s desk was put into law last year. From cbs13.com:

County clerk recorder Craig Kramer said residents can buy the official CC&R and strike the clause, making it good for all properties in the subdivision. The Morris’s plan to do that, as a happy 21st century family, they say some sometimes history needs a little rewriting.

As discussed in the earlier post, this law went into effect on January 1, 2006. So why is it only getting press in 2007? And can one person “buy” the official CC&R and strike the clause for the whole neighborhood? And if so, how?

Well, loyal reader, you’ve come to the right place.

Continue reading “More fun with CC&R”

Should that star spangled banner yet wave?

Now that the dust as settled on last week’s MySpace debate, I figured we could take a few swings at this situation in Orangevale:

An Orangevale man is being fined $2,500 for flying five American flags on county streetlight poles.

The best part of this story is that the man being fined, Ed Andrews, took up a collection last summer in his neighborhood and raised $400 for the flags and brackets. Well done, Ed.

Now the lawyers are involved as well as the Sacramento County supervisors:

At an impromptu meeting on a neighbor’s driveway Wednesday evening, Sacramento County’s Director of Transportation Tom Zlotkowski explained that allowing American flags on light poles around Acer Way and Ortiz Court would mean any other flags could be put up.

Hmmm, I wonder about that, but, sure, OK.

“But yet people could go out and burn the flag if they wanted to, but yet we’re having a problem flying the flag and showing our patriotism,” said Michele Turner, whose future stepson is due back from Iraq in a few days.

There’s the issue, Sacramento. Where do you draw the line? If a gal has to pay to have repairs made to her sidewalk, why can’t folks fly old glory in their neighborhood?

My58 to launch morning show

The Bee’s Sam McManis reports that KCRA has laid off 5 editorial employees (including Mike Bond) in a restructuring move aimed at making room for a new morning news show over at sister station My58TV in late March.

Elliott Troshinsky, president of KCRA and My58TV, said new hires will be made for a My58TV newscast slated from 7 to 9 a.m., but it was necessary to eliminate several positions.

“This new newscast will need a different type of staff than what we currently have,” he said. “So this will free up some positions for the new morning news.”

I hope this “different type” of staff doesn’t include My58’s Street Team duo of Travis & Kelly. You know, the two winners of My58’s “Host Hunt” last year. Frequent Sac Rag readers will recall that CoolDMZ reported on this in September:

…is holding the competition to find 2 hosts for an as-yet unannounced new show for one year. It will most likely be a show in the “Good Day Sacramento” model.

Just to catch you up on their goings on lately, here’s Travis & Kelly “hitting up” Capitol Garage and the True Love Coffeehouse. Rest easy, folks, the chin stroke and super toothy grin are still in heavy rotation.

The 411 on the CRV

For those of you not up on your recycling news, as of January 01, 2007 the California Refund Value (CRV) paid to consumers when they recycle containers at recycling centers is 5¢ for each beverage container less than 24 ounces and 10¢ for each container 24 ounces or greater.

Folks looking for a place to recycle their goods can search here. From the FAQ page:

Customers will continue to pay the current 4¢ for beverage containers under 24 oz. and 8¢ for containers 24 oz. and greater through June 30, 2007. Beginning July 1, 2007, if an overall recycling rate of 75% has not been achieved for calendar year 2006, consumers will pay 5¢ for beverage containers under 24 oz. and 10¢ for containers 24 oz. and greater that they purchase in California.

Hear that, Sacramento? There’s money to be made out there. Sure, you could enter a radio contest and sue when things don’t go your way or mingle online with registered sex offenders, but those of you with that “can do” spirit know what I’m talking about. Don’t let the homeless and less fortunate have all the fun, get out there and collect those bottles and cans. They won’t recycle themselves you know! Or wait, maybe they will…

Continue reading “The 411 on the CRV”

MySpace & personal responsibility

While we are on the topic, I wanted to mention this story about a lawsuit that has been filed against News Corp. (the owners of the popular social networking site MySpace.)

Four families have sued News Corp. and its MySpace social-networking site after their underage daughters were sexually abused by adults they met on the site, lawyers for the families said Thursday.

I know, shocking right? Nevertheless, the debate rolls on whether society should hold organizations like MySpace or 107.9 The End accountable for incidents like this. The site provides the forum for chaos and mayhem, but people themselves actually provide the chaos and the mayhem, right?

“In our view, MySpace waited entirely too long to attempt to institute meaningful security measures that effectively increase the safety of their underage users,” said Jason A. Itkin, an Arnold & Itkin lawyer.

Ah, interesting. But, shouldn’t the underage girls know better than to visit the site and chat it up with older dudes? I mean, no one puts a gun to these girl’s heads (if you read the story you’ll find that comes later) and forces them to log on.

Continue reading “MySpace & personal responsibility”

Copper is all craze!

Has anyone else noticed that on cbs13.com (other local sites, too, I’ve just noticed it more here lately) they “write” their online stories by sort of transcribing their video reports? For example, I’m reading today’s story about recent copper thefts on construction sites. I start to read the first few sentences and I notice that there a several errors. So I watch the corresponding video from the newscast. Ron Jones tells me that there is a rash of copper burglaries in Sacramento. The text in the story is more or less the text from the video report. Except that key words are removed:

The owners of a construction supply company in West Sacramento tell us a guy driving a nice tan or gold colored Chevy Suburban is copper thief…Copper is all craze among legitimate customers and recycling thieves…The suspected thieve is accused of stealing about 2,000 pounds worth…

I can go on and on. It seems like lazy journalism. As with most local online news stories (not just cbs13.com) I wonder if anyone ever reads them after they go live. Perhaps it’s an automated system that converts the spoken word to print. If so, does anyone know how this works? I wish we knew people at local news stations that could shed some light on this!

Roseville will eat itself

The sleepy little town of Roseville announced plans to expand it’s quaint little shopping area recently. The “Galleria” as it is known to the locals will grow from a modest 1.1 million square feet to 1.5 million square feet when all is said and done.

To expand, the Galleria needs the Roseville Planning Commission to OK a modification to its major project permit; a separate permit for the architecture of the new buildings; and the City Council to agree to amend the city’s lease agreement with the mall.

What about consulting local business owners?

At any rate, perhaps now the city will finally get a few of those “chain” restaurants we’ve been hearing so much about. Oh, and for you sports lovers out there, Roseville was also recently named the home of the Sacramento Capitals and will play seven out of fourteen games at The Galleria. This, of course, means they won’t be playing at the wonderfully accommodating Sunrise Mall any longer. Sigh.