With soaring gas prices I thought our readers may want to check out this site.
On the bright side, Sacramento area filling stations pepper the list of lowest regular gas prices in the last 48 hours.
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.
And who doesn’t love fireworks?
The California State Fair experienced its first fireworks show Friday evening of ’05. Unfortunately, this show wasn’t of the “…skyrockets in flight, afternoon delight” variety. No, the CSF (again, the acronym thing, not good) just wouldn’t be the same without some good old fashioned gunplay. According to News10.net, “as many as nine shots from a .22 caliber handgun” were fired as two groups of teens, “engaged in some kind of altercation with another group.” And to top it all off the suspect (who was arrested) is only 17! And to top it all off even more, “authorities said the alleged gunman threw the handgun away just before he was grabbed by officers on Heritage Lane.” Super, great, grand. Just what we need as folks make their way to the fair from offsite parking. No word yet on whether the gun was retrieved.
Chili today, hot tamale
The folks over at Plum Win have asked us to do a story on the weather forecasting in the River City. Specifically, a story on why we don’t need weather forecasting. This reminded me of a rumor I once heard, I assume it is a rumor as I haven’t been able to prove it one way or the other, that Hawaii has no television weather forecasters. Presumably because it is partly cloudy with afternoon showers every flippin’ day. Perhaps our readers can verify this as fact or fiction. In the meantime, click your way over to thehawaiichannel.com.
Notice anything odd about this site? Apparently the old KCRA site found a new home in our 50th state, but I digress.
Continue reading “Chili today, hot tamale”
Because two weeks just wasn’t long enough
Please allow me to switch gears for a moment and do away with this WNV chatter. Who wants to talk California State Fair? According to our dear friends at News10.net this year’s fair has been extended another week! That’s 3, count them, 3 weeks to savor your favorite deep fried chocolate treat, to try out that great utility knife that can simply cut through anything, and to enjoy your favorite band of yesteryear. While I could go on and on about this “celebration of all things Californian” let me leave you this excerpt (also from the News10.net article):
- “Parking is $7, though carpools of four or more are $6.“
That’s right, our beloved environmentally friendly, always pushing the envelope, never to be outdone, city (could be a state order, I’ll admit) is offering a whopping dollar discount for loading up your SUV with your friends and family and heading out to the fair! Now that’s something to celebrate!
They report…you assume and move on
Another example of why you must do your own due diligence when forming opinions and doing research. Taken from News10 this morning:
- Butte County Man Dies of West Nile Virus
“Wow!” you might say, “this is getting out of hand, people are dying left and right.” However, read on a few lines and you find:
- The man who died was suffering from a chronic disease in addition to West Nile.
Now I am not saying this man did or didn’t die of the WNV, but “chronic disease” does sort of mean, well, “Lasting for a long period of time or marked by frequent recurrence, as certain diseases: chronic colitis.”
“Honey, Stop the Car!”
Our friends over at Plum Win scooped us on this one. With all this pesticide ranting I haven’t had time to comment on this annoying real estate marketing ploy that has been eating at me for weeks. A few months ago a house came on the market on my street with this sign. I thought, “hmmm, that bugs, but I am sure it’s some looney greenhorn realtor’s idea.” Then I see another and another. Then, as if that sign is not horrible enough, I come across the “Talking House! Tune Your Radio to 1460AM” sign right under the Honey sign. Ugh. Have we reached this point, Sacramento?
UPDATE: As web dudes here at the Rag, I must admit that I do think it is rather clever to advertise your house by purchasing the domain for your street address and whipping up your own site to sell your home. Because if you’ve ever tried to navigate through the MetroList service you probably have been frustrated with the lack of details and specifics for the house you may have your eye on.
Not to pile on, but, ok, to pile on
The Sac Rag is increasingly more alarmed with this WNV (yes, you know you are in deep doo doo when the acronym is thrown around) issue. For example, this excerpt from an article on News10.net:
- This morning vector control district officials said they believe they have killed off 40 to 50 percent of the overall mosquito population in the sprayed area and called on residents to eliminate standing water where mosquitoes thrive. “After these applications, it’s not going to do us any good if people aren’t managing their water supplies — if they have unmaintained swimming pools, if they over-water their lawns — because we will see a recruitment of the adult mosquito population,” vector control district manager Dave Brown said.
Local university suffers “hurt” reputation
Was really disturbed when I came across this article today. Apparently CSU, Chico is not just the esteemed institution of higher learning that we all thought it was. There has been a “series of alcohol-related incidents” recently that has the college very concerned.
This breaking news may lead you to worry about your youngster wanting to apply to Chico. Fear not concerned parent, they have an online alcohol abuse prevention course that your freshman will be required to take. Pheewww, that was a close one.
Sample this
Came across this article (RR) in the Bee today. This is something we used to do in college regularly when our Top Ramen supplies ran out.
- “The friendly allure of the demo dollies is made more attractive by the free nourishment they give in such quantities; company policy is to let shoppers have as much as they want.”
There you go all you Hornets and Aggies out there, don’t ever say your friends at the Rag never did anything for you!
Housing Boom or Bust or Boom?
As we say at The Rag, “if you live here, you’ll know,” and nowhere is that phrase more appropriate than when discussing the housing market in Sacramento. Whether you are on the outside looking in or sitting pretty in a 4 walled gold mine, you will certainly appreciate this little gem from our friends at the Bee. Just browse the article names mentioned on the right column (they seem to be dynamically generated and therefore may not appear after publishing). “House market in flux” – “‘For sale’ signs are increasing” – “Housing boom slows” – “Realtors see solid housing market”…whiskey tango foxtrot?
As long as we are on the topic check out the Capital region home sales by zip code and tell me you’re not a bit surprised. Specifically, the median price paid per square foot. Not bad for a cow town, huh?
The Sac Rag 