Category: Misc

Craigslist literary award of the day

I guess the reason I don’t troll for hilarious Craigslist ads more often is that the only thing I frequently purchase that is not dinner, or cannot be made into dinner or another meal, is socks. Though I’m sure you can score some sweet socks on the CL. But I dig them fresh. Anyway, I find myself in the market for an antique typewriter and came across this ad:

For sale is an antique and/or vintage Royal typewriter.

It’s in good cosmetic condition. It types, though the carriage is loose and the ribbon is a bit dry. But you’re not likely to buy this to type with, unless maybe you need to do a ransom note and don’t want to mess with that tedious letter-cut-out-of-magazines thing. But that’s none of my business, so let’s forget I brought it up. Or maybe you’re going to go steampunk with it, which, again, is none of my business, so we can forget I brought that up, too. Dork.

The proposition 8 my homework

It’s NOT just us. We now have evidence that Sacto’s kids are, in fact, getting dumber. The Sacramento Business Journal reported earlier this week:

High school graduation rates are falling and fewer teens are meeting requirements to get into University of California and California State University schools in Sacramento County.

Those are among the many findings of the 2008 Sacramento County Children’s Report Card, according to a report to be presented Tuesday to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors…

…Among its education findings, the group reports that the graduation rate among high school seniors decreased to 79.6 percent in 2006-07, from 85.1 percent in 2000-01.

The “group” in question is the Sacramento County Children’s Coalition, and they also reported on several other interesting damn lies statistics:

• High school drop outs earn an average of $21,346 a year, while graduates earn an average of $8,747 more.
• Those with a bachelor’s degree earn more than $21,000 annually more than people who have only a high school diploma.
• Spending per student in Sacramento County in 2005-06 was $7,324, compared to the state average of $8,486 and the national average of $9,138.

Who thinks this will get worse before it gets better? Perhaps it’s time to give education its rightful props on the voting ballot.

FREE car washes for veterans at Harv’s today

flag car
This guy probably gets
free washes everywhere

Today is Veteran’s Day, and Harv’s Metro Car Wash will be offering free car washes for veterans.

[Harv’s co-owner] Aaron Zeff and business partner Doron Levitan are both veterans themselves. Zeff trained locally at Mather Air Force Base before its closure and finished his career flying the supersonic RF-4 Phantom.

Harv’s Metro Car Wash
1901 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.446-0129
http://www.harvscarwash.com

Episode III: Revenge of the Squirrels


Karin Higgins, UC Davis
Eastern fox squirrel on UC Davis campus

When the squirrels aren’t being hunted for fun or falling to their death in flames caused by carelessly hung “power lines,” they just enjoy making sweet whoopee and raising families. And who can blame them, right?

Now word comes that the folks at UC Davis have had it up to here with the fertile squirrels on their campus and will be putting them on the pill next summer:

Officials said the university is being overrun with eastern fox squirrels, which aren’t natives of the Davis area…Faculty wildlife experts and their students plan to capture some of the squirrels next summer and give them hormone injections to try to limit offspring.

Hmmm, that tail sure looks familiar.

What does transit mean to you?

Regional Transit has put together a little Flash game that tests your willingness to pay for certain elements of the Transit Master Plan. By selecting among various options you can see how much your version of the TMP would cost — in aggregate dollars and per-household costs. The game scores your suggestion by its effect on transportation choices, congestion relief, and environmental benefit.

University Park HOA agrees to delay tree cutting

As a follow up to my recent pieces about the battle over tree cutting in University Park, that neighborhood’s homeowners association board has a scheduled meeting tonight. The tree controversy will be discussed at the meeting, but no voting will take place. In fact, California civil code prevents the board from discussing or taking actions on items not on the published agenda, which puts the previous vote to remove the trees (cited in my Sept. 29th post) onto shaky legal ground as it was not on the agenda for that meeting:

Continue reading “University Park HOA agrees to delay tree cutting”

How I Met Your Reservoir

Joe Sacramento (didn’t you move? :)) has a great roundup of the Docks project on the riverfront near Miller Park and the I-80 bridge, including his discussion of what would happen to the Pioneer Reservoir, which I’m not sure I was entirely aware existed–it is apparently a massive sewage treatment plant across the street from the city animal shelter. Anyway it reminded me of when Marshall and Lily buy a house in the chic up-and-coming NY neighborhood of DoWiSiTrePla, only to find out it is a realtor nickname for “Downwind of the Sewage Treatment Plant” on How I Met Your Mother.

Joe claims Heather Fargo has advocated placing a Ferris wheel atop the plant, but I can’t tell if that’s a joke on his part. And that’s more a sad comment on Fargo and this city than it is a dig at Joe’s wry humor…

Help needed: University Park trees endangered UPDATED

Got this in the inbox this morning:

Can anyone refer me to a certified arborist who doesn’t make their living cutting down or pruning trees? I live in University Park Homes, a gated community of 150 or so homes that is set in an urban forest. It is near the American River, between campus commons and sierra oaks. The area is known for its tall colorful trees. Without notification, the homeowners association voted (three people) to remove 22 trees, 10 of which are directly in my view. An arborist has recommended the removal of 144 trees over two years replacing large shady greenery with a shorter variety of trees that don’t provide shade. It appears they are going for the Southwest look?

If this was my hood I’d be pretty darn upset. Everybody knows Sacramento is all about the trees.

Continue reading “Help needed: University Park trees endangered UPDATED”