Category: Business

2010 Holiday Services Schedule (City & County)

I had to look up my local garbage collection schedule recently and came across the holiday schedule for the City of Sacramento.

Be sure to put out your cans as usual and follow collection day parking guidelines. For loose-in-the-street collection for yard waste, please see Residential Garden Refuse & Street Sweeping.

This includes when parking meters take a holiday (Christmas Eve is on the 23rd and Christmas Day is on the 24th to the City). And read the fine print, “No” means “yes, they are enforced.” Here is a detailed PDF of the free, on-street parking locations (previously mentioned by CoolDMZ on November 17th).

I still wish the County offered the “Loose-in-the-Street” program. Or does it just seem more appealing?

For County folks, you’ll have to use the “e-Map-It” service which continues to be a great resource.

More festive and stuff

Robbers and Burglars and Assaults, oh my!
Robbers and Burglars and Assaults, oh my!

At least four Midtown businesses have had their Christmas decorations stolen.

“It’s kind of annoying. We are putting them out there just to make our place look more festive and stuff, but people come in and try to ruin it,” said Jared Agee, manager of Buckhorn Grill.

KCRA’s Crime Tracker informs me that 278 crimes have been committed from 12/01 to 12/07 (as reported by the Sacramento County Sheriff).

I do enjoy the crime icons they use on their map. Tracking the decay of civilization has never been so much fun!

Music and backscatter at SMF

I’ve been looking for an opportunity to insert this video clip into a post so I was pleased to read Screening methods leading some to drive, not fly in Sacramento on sacbee.com.

“We were thinking of flying to Oregon to see our family but instead we’re going to drive 11 hours,” said Sonja Wilson, 49, of Sacramento. Wilson said she flew two years ago and received a less invasive pat-down than those used in recent weeks. Still, she felt violated and doesn’t want a more thorough frisking. “I already felt totally sexually assaulted back then,” she said. “I can’t imagine what it must be like now.”

Ohh kay. I don’t get out much, so please share your experiences with airport security. Is it really this bad? I did learn that… “of the two secondary screening procedures – Backscatter scan and enhanced pat-down – Sacramento International only has the enhanced pat-down procedure available.” Man, that’s a relief.

Continue reading “Music and backscatter at SMF”

Bringing back the “need-to-know basis”

I was reading this story on news10.net about how security at Arden Fall mall used license plate scanners and HD cameras to help police arrest a car thief and couldn’t help but think, “should they really be telling us this stuff?”

One quick scroll down to the comments area (my love/hate with comments continues, btw) and I found I was not alone.

but I wish they wouldn’t release information like this to the media. There are a lot of effective tools out there for law enforcement that have been effective because the bad guys don’t know what they are or where they are. Now there is a better chance that bad guys will know not to drive stolen cars to the Arden mall, which will reduce the effectiveness of the program.

So, what’s your take? Does publicizing these advanced security measures simply help educate would-be criminals to commit craftier crimes? Or, does knowing about this stuff prevent someone from attempting an illegal act? I’m leaning toward the former.

What about you?

Cupcakes vs. Frozen Yogurt

http://www.icingonthecupcake.com/
Icing on the Cupcake - 1121 Alhambra Blvd.

Not sure I get the cupcake thing, but I’m noticing more and more of them popping up all over Sacramento. The only business that seems to be outgrowing cakes in a cup is self-serve frozen yogurt. I’m all for economic recovery and seeing a “Grand Opening” sign is much more comforting than a “For Lease” sign, but I’m curious as to who is eating all of these cupcakes. It seems like a niche business at best.

Speaking of, I did try out Tops Yogurt the other day and was put off by the policy that the employee must fill your free sample cup. Granted, I’ve long wondered when these places would start doing this to control inventory (the obvious scene of the high school crowd coming and filling up on sample after sample comes to mind) but it’s tough when you’re not trying to abuse it.

Is it easier to get a commercial loan if you are opening a cupcake or frozen yogurt shop?

Math and the housing market

Help me out here, folks. I was reading this article about former Kings basketball star Kevin Martin being sent a notice of default on his million-dollar Rocklin home and I am left curious.

Martin, who will earn $10 million this year playing for the Houston Rockets, first missed a payment on his $1.5 million home loan in June, according to Foreclosures.com. His lender filed the notice of default last month…Martin’s Rocklin home is listed for $1.1 million as an “active short sale,” meaning that if someone buys at that price, his bank could take a loss…Martin paid about $1.9 million for the home in the gated Whitney Oaks subdivision in July 2007.

Is the 1.5 million number referring to what he owes on the house still? And how does someone making 10 million a year allowed to short sell his home? And we’re supposed to rest assured knowing that Kevin is not going to walk away from this home because he’s a stand-up guy? What if this property had gained in value? Would he have donated the profits of the sale to a local charity? You know, because he’s a stand-up guy? I wonder. You invested in a property that went south, you have to live with the consequences, right? At least you do when your income hasn’t been severely altered like so many others in this country. Obviously I am no expert and do not know the details of this particular case, but it sure is tough to read as a tax payer and Sacramento resident who is upside down on his home that someone with the means to pay his bills is finding away to get around them.

Help me out here. Am I way off base? I am assuming I can blame Obama here though.

When one door closes…

Interesting positioning of headlines recently on Google News…

William Glen Articles on Google

On sacbee.com and news10.net, we learn that William Glen is closing its doors at the end of the year. Then, over at sacramentopress.com (at sacbee.com, too), we find out that “the children of one of William Glen’s founders will soon open housewares and holiday stores in Old Sacramento.”

The stores are expected to open by early October or sooner. Late Thursday afternoon, Snyder and Guthrie were caught off guard by the news that the William Glen store will close after Christmas.

At any rate, it is always tough to see another Sacramento business shut own. At the same time, it’s great to hear that a business is opening in Sacramento. Remember when grand openings were an everyday occurrence? Sigh.

The commenters at sacbee.com, of course, are all over the place with this one. Lots of blaming of the President, which has become the norm for ANY article, and random shots at Sacramento.

Oh, and Sacramento’s second largest law firm called it quits last week.

Have a great weekend, y’all!

Looking for an amazing deal?

Weekly Special Ad at Ikea West SacramentoI was looking for an excuse to crowbar this photo (Runnergirl, are you out there?) I took at Ikea recently into a post, when I came across this advertisement on ikea.com.

Looking for an amazing deal? Then look no further than IKEA West Sacramento during the week! You’ll find specials on some great products. However, these specials have limited quantities, so hurry in to get them before they’re all gone! Here’s what we have in store for you next week:

Monday, August 30 – Sunday, September 5, 2010:
EKTORP sofa with BLEKINGE pink cover
Combo Regular Price: $499
Combo Sale Price: $399*

Limited quantities you say? Get out.

A mix of beautiful and seedy

It’s always fun to read what folks have to say about Sacramento who do not live here.

From a review at fodors.com:

My first impression riding in was mixed and the city seemed fairly empty, there were not nearly as many folks walking around as I thought there would be in a city of that size at that time of day.

I’ve noticed this myself. Sure, traffic is a mess, but once people get to their homes they don’t seem to hit the streets, huh? Well, if you don’t have a home you do…

Leaving the restaurant, the sun was beginning to set, and I was surprised to see that most of the shops had already closed. Retracing my steps to the hotel was kind of spooky, There were very few people on the streets and many of those that I saw seemed to be vagrants. I was hit up for change at least half dozen times before reaching the hotel.

The author continues with a few great reviews of restaurants (especially Aioli) and services, so give it a read and tell us what you think.

Is Sacramento a tourist destination? Can it be?

No hoodies for young men


Creative Commons License photo credit: Life of Sport

The movement to rid the world of hoodies took another step forward recently according to an article on news10.net regarding a proposed dress code for patrons of Regional Transit.

“It can be intimidating sometimes when people are wearing hoodies,” Hammond said. “We need to create a friendlier atmosphere for everyone riding.”

The snark opportunities here are endless. Bonus points for working in a reference to the new 100.5 radio station tag line…