Category: Business

Flea Market for Iceland

Scroungers, pickers and rememberers of days past will not want to miss out on tomorrow’s fundraiser to rebuild Iceland. More than 30 local vendors and artists will be selling Sacramento-centric treasures, including a wide variety of antiques, jewelry, and items from the Northern Sacramento Historical Society, KZAP and Tower Records. There will also be an exhibit of art photos of Iceland. Music, food, and a DIY tie dye station will be available. Admission is free!

Urban Flea Market
Saturday, June 19
1309 Del Paso Blvd
9am-3pm

The Case for Cloud Computing

I found this article about government agencies switching to Cloud Computing very interesting. As a Google homer, I try to force their services onto anyone I meet. If I could have Gmail replace my Outlook at work, I would be sound as a pound.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For government agencies, cloud computing isn’t just intriguing; it also should be strongly considered, according to two public-sector decision-makers who recently made the leap, speaking at the Managing Technology conference Wednesday, March 17.

The conversation based organization Gmail provides would make sifting through work emails so much easier. Not to mention reducing the constant use of attachments taking up precious Inbox space.

Speaking of attachments, let’s see Outlook do this!

"I have included" message from Gmail
This is totally awesome and just wee bit creepy all at the same time.

K Street proposals offered tonight


If this was a comic book, I would read it

Separate articles on LivingInUrbanSac and by William Burg on Sacramento Press highlight the proposals being submitted tonight to the City Council for the 700 and 800 block of K Street. An ambitious face lift is being proposed by 4 different groups.

This is an area that I am interested in enough to read up on the proposals. I have always loved the K Street Mall and I would love to simply see it back to what I remember, much less something along the lines of these proposals. I suppose my vision would be closest to Proposal 3 by D&S Development and CFY Development; this proposal aims to “preserve the historic fabric” of the block by retaining the existing facades. Proposal 2 by David Taylor/CIM Group/Domus Development/Zeiden Properties, which is probably the most likely to be chosen, also looks like the most boring. Thing. Of all time.

What say you, crowd?

Your ad here

Clever use of space to advertise
I am sure a billboard for Chili's is coming soon

When Sacramentans are faced with adversity (like the recent economic downturn) they often times know how to make the most of a bad situation. The would-be TGIF restaurant on Truxel Road has been an eye-sore for quite some time. The smart folks at Beach Hut Deli and Sport Clips saw this as an opportunity to promote their business in a high traffic area. Nice work.

I still can’t believe this location hasn’t been torched yet. Er, I mean, something horrible like an accidental fire.

Girl Scout Cookie Time!

Girl Scout Cookies have officially arrived! You’ll pay $4 for a 7 oz. package this year. I spotted these hard-working sales-girls outside Corti Brothers today. They told me the troops will be selling here through March 15. You’ll also find them outside Safeway, CVS Pharmacy on Folsom Blvd., Compton’s on McKinley Blvd., and Starbucks on 39th and J Streets.

Even though the price has changed, you’ll still find the same yummy, classic flavor that only the Girl Scouts know how to make. Get ’em while they last!

Recycle this!

I went to my parking lot recycling spot (awesome site, btw, 2004 & 2005 “News” articles) on Saturday to cash in some bottles and cans that had been piling up (why give that money to the County, right?) only to find out that their hours had been dramatically cut recently. Why? It’s good for the bottle, right? It’s good for the can, right? It’s what Oprah wants us to do!

As it turns out, what do you know …

The state has tapped the California Redemption Value fund for $417.7 million in loans to help deal with its budget crisis. Consumers pay about $1.2 billion a year in 5- and 10-cent deposits on most soda, sports drinks, juice, beer and water bottles and cans sold in California.

The parking-lot recycling business operates as a for profit enterprise helping to make it easier for folks to return their recyclables for cash. You know, creating jobs, providing a service to the community. Yawn…

Continue reading “Recycle this!”

How Convenient

The Air/Water machine at the 76 Station on Watt & Fair Oaks
There will be $0.50 fee for reading this post.

I think we’ve all figured out by now that more and more gas stations price their product depending on your method of payment.

The two-tiered system is completely legal, however is not an option for many gas station owners. Pumps that have the technology able to track dual-prices cost anywhere between $12,000 to $15,000, meaning many small stations simply cannot afford such a luxury…and are stuck with smaller margins due to processing costs.

Wouldn’t NOT upgrading pumps at a cost of around 60K to 100K also help with those margins?

At any rate, here’s a photo taken at the 76 Station on Watt & Fair Oaks. If you have coins on you, it’ll run you $0.75 to fill up those tires. If you don’t, the price goes up to $1.25. You know, “Same as Cash.”

No more Wishing Well!!!

Extremely sad news (to me, at least) in Bob Shallit’s column today: the last remaining Wishing Well stores will be closing forever on Saturday. This is really depressing news. There are probably other imminent closings in the area that will hit harder, but Wishing Well was just such an entertaining and essential spot for decorations and craft supplies.

Shallit also mentions the store’s former “no kids” policy. The way I remember it as a kid (mid ’80s) was that you could enter the store, but they had a way of making you feel like they were watching you. Of course this made it an even more attractive spot. It was as if they really did sell M-80s and butterfly knives instead of paper hats and wedding decor.

Some people became angry

Crowd waiting for Air Jordans
Happy Holidays.

From cbs13.com we learn that, in spite of these tough economic times, people still covet sneakers and are willing to wait in line for them.

Crowds were in line waiting for the release of Air Jordan 11. The crowd that gathered for the $175 sneakers became so unruly, police were brought in and the mall closed. As a result, many customers who had been standing in line for hours became angry…Some people reportedly tried to get into the mall through back doors.

No word if any were wearing hoodies. Although I can report that Mrs. TopofIt has intentionally worn a hoodie at the Arden Fair Mall without so much as a second look.

Only six people were able to get shoes before the mall was closed. They received a special police escort from the mall to their vehicles.

$175 for reissued shoes! Man, people are funny.

Meet Muzzley!


Click to enlarge…if you dare

I was browsing at Tina’s One Stop Shop over the weekend with my daughter, and a nice and slightly-weird-but-not-scary lady bought this item for my daughter “in the spirit of the holidays.” His name is Muzzley, and in my daughter’s words he is a “freaky monkey in a leopard suit that I can’t play with” but we love him anyway. And by “love him” I mean we place him around the house to surprise each other. He was originally a marionette and was attached to a swing but that broke as soon as we got old Muzzley home. The woman who brought him into our lives vanished down the street but I hope she knows that despite his freakyness Muzzley has actually brought us a great deal of joy the last few days. It’s a regular Christmas miracle on the streets of Midtown!

By the way if the name “Tina’s One Stop Shop” doesn’t ring a bell, you may know it as that junk shop on J Street across from what used to be Taco Loco. It is one of my favorite retail establishments on the planet.