Have a small job? Don’t get Superior

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.

Kicked up a notch, for 2007

RV-on-Riverbank actionI’ve spent the better part of my career here at the Rag trying to document all of the automobile versus building encounters (follow this chain of posts) in this here town.  It’s been a challenge.  I’ve missed many, to be sure.  It happens all too often and really, it was beginning to become monotonous.

Sacramento, good on ya. You just made life worth living again:

A Winnebago motor home is one tough vehicle.

Just ask Citrus Heights police, who chased a stolen 27-foot model all over town Wednesday morning.

The desperate driver collided with other vehicles and a traffic signal pole as he drove an erratic route on streets that included Greenback Lane, Mariposa Avenue and Sunrise Boulevard.

Cars and helicopters from the California Highway Patrol, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department and Sacramento police joined the pursuit.

The driver then steered the motor home through several fences and backyards before taking it over an embankment above the American River at Sunrise Boulevard.

That’s right. This ain’t no story about a car hitting a house.  This is a story of a motorized house, hitting a river.  Hot damn this will be a fun year!

The Shins’ Sacramento connection

The Shins interviewed by Jim Krasinski, Filter Magazine
Yes, that’s Jim from The Office

I’m a huge fan of The Shins, the earnest yet quirky indie rock outfit featured as the band that can change your life in the otherwise unwatchable “Garden State” by Zach Braff. I’m excited about their new album, “Wincing the Night Away” (which you can stream on Scenestars), out January 23 (my birthday) on Sub Pop, and their appearance this weekend with host Jake Gyllenhaal on Saturday Night Live. (Sub Pop is excited about that too.)

And then I realized that, as they would say on the local news, The Shins have a Sacramento connection. Continue reading “The Shins’ Sacramento connection”

Step 1: Defrost your windshield

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. 

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.) 

CBS13 undermines river safety

CBS 13 story on the river party videoBy now you’ve heard of the “Sacramento’s American River Gone Fockin’ Crazy” video, an amateur “Girls Gone Wild” shot in the lawless American river by a creepy young would be video entrepreneur. CBS13 promoted the crap out of their story about the video last night during the broadcast of the (shudder) People’s Choice Awards, or as I like to call them the Yay For Everything Awards!! They cut in every commercial break, and displayed “Girls gone wild on the river” on the screen. Their angle was that County officials are worried that this will lead to more out of control partying on the river. Aren’t County officials also worried that CBS13 is showing us a reporter holding the DVD, showing the YouTube clips, and telling us that it is available in stores for $10?

Continue reading “CBS13 undermines river safety”

Tom says snow

Snow!If you’re a weather geek, you gotta bookmark the Web site of Tom Loffman, an honest-to-heavens meteorologist — as opposed to the Ken or Barbie pointing to a blue screen that’s the pretty much the rule these days. Loffman, of course, spent years on the air in this market, first at the mighty KCRA and then at … KOVR? Am I remembering right? And he’s fondly remembered in some circles for his too-true comment on how TV stations were more interested in having their weather types kiss dolphins than work the weather beat.

Good on you, Tom. Good on you.

Continue reading “Tom says snow”

Roseville will eat itself

The sleepy little town of Roseville announced plans to expand it’s quaint little shopping area recently. The “Galleria” as it is known to the locals will grow from a modest 1.1 million square feet to 1.5 million square feet when all is said and done.

To expand, the Galleria needs the Roseville Planning Commission to OK a modification to its major project permit; a separate permit for the architecture of the new buildings; and the City Council to agree to amend the city’s lease agreement with the mall.

What about consulting local business owners?

At any rate, perhaps now the city will finally get a few of those “chain” restaurants we’ve been hearing so much about. Oh, and for you sports lovers out there, Roseville was also recently named the home of the Sacramento Capitals and will play seven out of fourteen games at The Galleria. This, of course, means they won’t be playing at the wonderfully accommodating Sunrise Mall any longer. Sigh.

L.A. Times takes another shot

Last week, two swipes at Sacramento from the teetering L.A. Times. Today, another. In Bill Dwyre’s column about Florida’s routing of THE Ohio State University last night for the ridiculous no-playoff championship, he manages to mock our admittedly pathetic local Hornets in defending Boise State’s claim on No. 1:

[…] There ought to be a Sacramento State Rule in college football, as in, no team that plays Sacramento State can end up No. 1.

Hmmm. Maybe that rule makes some sense. Boise State didn’t even have to break a sweat, kicking Hornet tail 45-0 in the season opener for both teams. The Hornets lost six more, but I don’t think you can quite call them the closest thing to a gimme in Division I football. After all, they did beat perennial power houses Eastern Washington, Weber State, Northern Colorado and Idaho State. So there.

Who’ll start the rain?

Tower BridgeLast 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.