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.

It’s time to get organic

Frequent Raley’s shoppers may have noticed a new coffee brand on the shelf. And let me tell you, it’s pretty dang good …and local.

“…Now Sacramento-based Beantrees is taking its line of organic beans from the coffee stand to the checkout stand in an exclusive deal with West Sacramento-based Raley’s. The arrangement marks Beantrees’ first entry into the retail grocery aisle, right next to coffee giants Starbucks Corp. and Peet’s Coffee & Tea Inc…”

At $7.99 for the 12oz bag, it’s a great price for some great coffee. Their online prices aren’t too shabby either.

Sacramento, get a hold of yourself

As we discussed earlier this week, Ikea opened today to the public and, shocker, there were a flood of folks waiting in line to get in.

From cbs13.com:

Customers have been camping out for days, others for hours and hundreds more are lined up in the cold this morning waiting for their chance to shop at IKEA. The Swedish furniture chain is opening is 27th store in North America today in West Sacramento.

Hear that Sacramento? The 27th store in North America. The Emeryville location has been open for years with little to no fanfare. So what gives? And it is a Wednesday, you know, sometimes referred to as a "work day" which really has me scratching my head.

After opening ceremonies that included the Swedish National Anthem, sawing of a log and lots of free IKEA goodies, the doors opening about 15 minutes early. Many customers are sporting yellow IKEA ball caps and women dressed in traditional Swedish costumes are entertaining the crowds.

What in the name of Pippi Longstocking is going on here, people? Somebody, set me straight.

Remember bouncy balls?

Tramp Stamps

I sure do and going to a pizza parlor or gas station was a real treat when Mom or Dad would shell out a nickel or dime for me to get a shiny new ball from the machine. Ah, those were the days, right? And if you were really in luck you’d come across the coveted Super Bouncy Ball machine.

Well, my friends, as you can tell from the photo, times, they have a changed. These were found at the Taco Bell on Fair Oaks and Arden. Man, nothing says being a kid more than tramp stamps and dollar signs!

Skating with (would be) celebrities

Skatetown Shot

I had occasion to visit Skatetown in Roseville this past Saturday. Unfortunately, I was unable to use the free skate rental offer mentioned in a previous post. I could have used it though as it is $10 to skate these days (including rental). Who knew? Who also knew what a fuster cluck it would be out there, too? Good gravy, as you can see by the photo, there was little room for error. How the ice wasn’t littered with severed fingers is beyond me. I witnessed no fewer than 5 “close calls” where someone would take a header with arms out stretched only to have Apollo Ohno come whizzing by with hands tucked behind his back, etc.

What really got to me, however, were the jack holes that thought they would use this time to practice their axels and salchows. And then get irritated when someone was in the way of their landing. Very comical, I must say. I don’t go to the McDonald’s playland to practice my tumbling, right? Ok, once, but Tricks was closed!

Update: Due to technical issues beyond our control, comments made by Runnergirl and SinghCity were lost today. For comedy relief, I’ll attempt to recreate…

Ikea descends on Sacramento. Run for your life.

Editor’s Note: Local Sacramento blogger Plumwin was kind enough to submit this report to the Sac Rag on her recent visit to the new Ikea store in West Sacramento. For more commentary on Ikea, please to visit John’s post over at Uneasy Rhetoric which is simply gold.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you should be aware that there is a new IKEA opening up in West Sacramento (Bee article, registration required) on March 1st. Last Saturday I had the opportunity to participate in their pre-opening “Friends & Family” event and decided I’d give it a shot. I didn’t know how many of these golden tickets were given out but I assumed it wasn’t half of the city. I was wrong. The event was from 2pm – 5pm and we arrived about 2:30 and proceeded to crawl from the freeway exit to the entrance for a good hour. That wasn’t going to deter us and we soldiered onward…

Continue reading “Ikea descends on Sacramento. Run for your life.”

I heard it on the radio

One of the great things about local radio are the advertisements (I know Sac Rag author runnergirl1971 agrees with me). Specifically, the advertisements that are read (usually in real time) by the actual local radio personality. Sports 1140 really has this nailed down. From the Rise Guys to Grant & Mike in the afternoons, if you want to refinance your house and then add a home theater system with your new found riches, you’ll get honest info from these guys whose voices you trust.

From time to time, however, I’ll hear a spot that really makes me scratch my head. And, no, I’m not talking about Whitey‘s fake conversations with Steve Moskowitz, the 1 (888) TAXDEAL guy. Seriously, how come no one in the studio ever calls him out on that? It’s a comedy show, right? But I digress…

No, I’m talking about Mike Lamb’s recent spots for Equifax. He begins with a discussion about Harrison Ford’s new movie “Firewall” which involves identity theft apparently. This leads to the plug for Equifax where you can pay a monthly fee to have your credit monitored, or something, who the hell knows. It’s the last part of the spot where Mike really tests your intelligence, and I quote:

“Take it from me, if it can happen to Harrison Ford’s character in the movie ‘Firewall’ it can happen to you!”

Not to put too fine a point on it (I dare you to read that line and NOT finish it with "say I’m the only bee in your bonnet"), but isn’t identity theft a real enough problem as it is that associating it with a fictitious character in a movie only serves to lessen the credibility of both the company and the endorser?

Nothing common about it

Whatever happened to common sense? You know, that little voice in your head that sort keeps you from doing stupid things? It’s sort of like a sense of what to do and what not to do that is common to all people, right?

In the words of George Costanza, “Was that wrong? Should I NOT have done that?”

“SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Inmates gained access to personal information about prison employees, including their Social Security numbers, after the state unlawfully allowed them to work in a warehouse storing the data, a guard union said Thursday.

Suuuuper, greeeat, graaaand. I’m sure you’re thinking, “Hey, they’re in jail, what are they gonna do with this information” right?

One prisoner found with confidential records had asked an inmate serving time for identity theft to teach him how to use the information, Jimenez said.

It is fitting that only the personal information of prison employees was compromised.

As you were, Sacramento.

Spots are getting hot

Here’s a free wi-fi finder site for Sacramento that utilizes the Google Maps API well. A few may surprise you.

  • Brookfield’s Restaurant
  • Hoppy Brewing Company
  • Sacramento Brewing Company

Know of any other free hot spots not listed here? Feel free to let us know!

We’re only #46 on the top 100 free wireless cities list.

To turn or not to turn

No Turn on Red Sign

29th & J Street Satellite

Getting back to 29th and J again, I’ve had a long standing debate with my friends on the meaning of the “No Turn on Red” sign (see photo) located in between the left turn onto J lane and the continue on to 29th Street lane.

While I am sure I could give my new friends over at the DOT a call to clarify, I thought I’d hassle you folks first. So what say you, Sacramento? In the interest of fun, I’ll refrain from offering up my interpretation of the sign. Also, if I don’t hear from anyone by the end of the day, I’m going to change the title to “To BOOBS! or not to BOOBS!” and see what happens…

Update (11/13/06): The sacbee addressed this very issue in today’s paper.

Update: Because we’re nothing at the Sac Rag if not complete nerds, please to review people’s exhibit B, an edited version of Google’s satellite image of the intersection in question.

And now you know

There has been a malfunctioning pedestrian signal at the southeast corner of L and 30th Street for at least a week. It’s rather dangerous if you don’t pay close attention to the status of the light. Today, an older woman was having difficulty making sense of the faded, flickering hand icon. So I decided to see about reporting this to the appropriate party. Well, I spoke to a very nice gentleman today with the City of Sacramento Department of Transportation. The number is (916) 808-6313. Thought it might come in handy sometime.