It’s not all bad news for Sacramento radio fans… Over the weekend I noticed that Flash 92.1 has undergone a rebirth and is now K-HITS 92.1, Sacramento’s Cool Oldies, filling a gap I had noticed previously. Those of you who are reading this thinking that 92.1 was “Jack” are thinking of “Bob,” which was at 92.1 way back a few months ago before it changed to Flash and then to K-HITS.
Kids: Do not plan to go into the radio industry.
I know that title makes little sense but I’ve been absent from SacRag for a while and I guess I’m a bit rusty. Anyhoo (a phrase I hate), I don’t know whether it’s just that I’ve been living in Sacramento for a while now, or the subliminal pressure of past SacRag posts on the subject, or all the talk of “the environment”, but I’m obsessed with getting a bike. And not the kind of bike that would give people any chance of mistaking me with an athlete either. I’m in the market for a super-vain cruiser that can only get me to Burr’s ice cream and back, people. The obsession is so strong that it’s finally motivated me to have that garage sale I’ve been talking about for months. So it’s coming up. The date and location have been intentionally ommited so as to preserve our hallowed SacRag from becoming a craigslist substitute. I’m not plugging my sale here, I’m wondering: Any good tips out there for pulling off a blow-out garage sale, Sacramento style?
According to the Bee today, Thomas Enterprises, Inc., new owner and developer of the railyard, are going to be moving as fast as possible to clean up the toxic areas of that site.
The faster the cleanup, the sooner Thomas will get city approval for development. The sooner the company sells parcels to developers, the faster it can pay off loans and turn a profit.
My mom always loved this approach to cleaning my room. Why on earth would you attempt to portray your handling of a gigantic environmental mess as proceeding as fast as humanly possible? It’s one thing if there are just a few big-box stores going in there, but there are going to be thousands of homes on that site.
I made the mistake of telling Mark at Superior Builders, Inc. that I needed a quote from his company on what I considered to be a small job at my house. Then Mark made the mistake of admitting to me that this is a turnoff to him because when people have it in their minds that the job is small, they can’t be convinced that it’s actually a big job, at coincidentally a much larger price. I decided to humor Mark…
Me: Okay, let’s just say I have just had a change of heart, and I’d like to have your company give me a quote on a job of undeterminate size.
Mark: Yeah, we’d have to pass on that.
I’m not saying that you should not call Superior Builders, Inc. for your contracting needs. I’m just saying don’t tell them you want a small deck built, lest they try to convince you that you actually want the hanging gardens of Babylon in your backyard.
With this week’s cold snap, it should take people a little longer to hit the road to ensure plenty of time to have windshields fully defrosted.Â
Please don’t be one of those idiots who attempts to drive with a collective 1 square foot of defrosted areas on the windshield. I nearly got creamed by someone this morning who was weaving all over the road while apparently trying to wipe clean the inside of his/her windshield — the windshield wipers were working furiously on the outside to no avail. (Note that I was running on the sidewalk and was wearing an OSHA-approved day-glo yellow construction shirt with six 3″ wide bands of reflective material on it, plus a powerful LED headlamp, and reflective material on my hat and shoes.)
My suggestion? Start your engine and turn on the defroster and heater. Stand near a window inside your house where you can see your car and use the time while your car is warming up to check your voicemail, e-mails, or to peruse the paper some more; this way, you can keep an eye on your car while the engine is running. (I could have had no fewer than five free cars this morning while unattended vehicles were rid of their frost.)Â
Last year at about this time, the rivers were challenging the strength of our levees and across the community you could feel that “Honey, did we pay the flood insurance?” vibe. The American River, normally invisible from the levee top in Glenn Hall park, was suddenly right there, mere steps away, and on theHighway 80 route into downtown Sacramento appeared to be an island at the edge of the vast inland sea that was the Yolo Bypass.
This year? Bupkus.
You could ride a mountain bike across parts of the Yolo Bypass basin today, the Sacramento is content to sit in its channel and the American remains its normal lurking presence off-stage at Glenn Hall park. Up in the Sierra, the reservoirs are nowhere near capacity, with the experts suggesting the rest of the water season will be “either above average or below average.”
Gee, thanks.
With Chicken Ranch Slough meandering right behind my house, I’m perhaps more aware of flood risk than anyone outside River Park or the Pocket. After all, in the floods of the ’80s and ’90s, it was the creeks and sloughs that caused much of the problems, backing up like toilets when they couldn’t dump their run-off into the rampaging rivers. Needless to say, I sent off my flood insurance check to State Farm, although after Katrina I don’t have a lot of faith that insurance will help much after the 100-year flood we all know is coming So like many Sacramentans, I watch the rivers, pray for the levees, am ready to run and hope for the best.
And in the dry years, I wish for just a little more of the wet stuff, aware that too little for too long is almost as big a problem as too much for a few days. But seems the wet stuff — or even a little of the white stuff — is on the way.
Turned to the back of my Entertainment book to find a page of great money-saving coupons … for Tower. Choked up a little, what am I, made of wood here? Also how sad is it that I have tagged this post to the “Nostalgia” category.
After asking the S.F. vs. Sac question yesterday, I’m now dealing with the diss of the Big Tomato by Bee L.A. Bureau Chief (and sole reporter) Laura Mecoy. Well-known around the Bee newsroom as one of its best reporters, Mecoy headed south for The Bee 14 years ago and has filed some incredible stories in the years since.
But The Bee decided we didn’t need to know anything from L.A. (or S.F.) that couldn’t be pulled from the Associated Press wires and offered the far-flung correspondents either a bus ticket back to Sac or a buyout. (The recalled reporters also include Herb Sample in S.F., and Claire Cooper, who knows more about the California Supreme Court than the justices do).
Writes Mecoy, in the L.A. Observed blog:
I saw how the recall worked out for Gov. Gray Davis and decided it’s not for me. I look forward to traveling across the Los Angeles basin in search of a new calling. I know I will find great wisdom in all the wonderful people I will meet along the way.
Don’t bother checking in at the L.A. Times after that buyout money runs out, Laura. I got a Christmas card from a friend who’s pretty high up there, and in the note inside, that person scribbled a few words that weren’t entirely optimistic about prospects for the Best Darn Paper south of the Grapevine.
Sad.
Via Rachel Leibrock Time magazine will mention local YouTube stars Smosh next week. “The SNL of YouTube?” If that’s anything like being the SNL of TV shows, is that even a compliment?
The same two houses I reported on last year for their terrible holiday light displays are at it again this year! At right is a house on the 3500 block of 52nd Street, right around the corner from me. You’ll notice they mined some of the same subject matter as last year, namely giant geometric shapes. This year just one Santa, and he’s riding a pogo stick. The bright area atop the gate is a green frog. Ho hum, not much else remarkable about this house… What’s that giant shape in the center, you say? Why that’s a spider, of course… with a Santa hat and presents on its back. It’s left over from Halloween, when it was ridden by a zombie bride.
Can’t wait to see what they do for President’s day! The giant native American spider god that haunted Andrew Jackson?
The Sac Rag 