Downtown stadiums

I’m sitting in a room on the 21st floor of the Omni in San Diego, looking down into PetCo Park, where the Padres are playing the Giants. I can tell every time Bonds makes an appearance — the boos rock the ballpark and practically vibrate the foundation of the hotel (which has a four-floor skywalk into the park).

Why am I not at the game? Three tickets, four people (late entry to our party), so I opted to stay “home” and get some work done. (The Omni has to be one of the most efficient business hotel chains around, totally dedicated to helping you get everything you want done, from hooking to fast, flawlessw WiFi in every room to getting your 14-year-old niece some tourist options to get her out of your hair for a while. Oh, and great handmade chips!)

Sounds like the seventh-inning stretch down there now …
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Kaiser: On a roll!

When I found myself in need of urgent care after a household accident yesterday (click link at your own risk), my hubby drove me to a local fire station to be checked out by the paramedics. The first station we tried was the one at Havenside and Florin in the Pocket area, and there was nobody around at all (which begs the question of its being a “safe haven” for people to drop off newborns, but that’s a different issue altogether.) The second fire station we tried was the one on 43rd near South Land Park Drive. The paramedics told me to get to the ER, and I knew the closest one under my coverage was Kaiser South on Mack Road.

Keeping my mind off the disgusting nature of my injury, we chatted about what was in store for us once we arrived at Kaiser. We were delightfully surprised.
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Power to the People

Cooldmz was happy to report that his travel plans were not delayed this morning at Sacramento International Airport in light of recent security restrictions placed on all air travel. With some proper prior planning, the wait at Terminal 2 was fewer than 5 minutes. In fact, the wait was much longer at the Pyramid Brewery kiosk! This goes to show you, of course, that when faced with adversity we humans can rise to the occasion and go with the flow! As long as the “flow” is coming from a beer tap…at 6am…on a weekday.

Grounded!

For hours now the news has been full of reports that mass murder in the skies has been averted, thanks to arrests of suspected terrorists in the U.K. New security measures are in place, and lines are reported long.

What does this mean for anyone trying to fly out of Sacramento International now? A friend just bailed on a business trip East. Her morning flight hadn’t boarded by afternoon.

We’re supposed to go to San Diego Saturday. Part of me says, “oh heck, just drive!”

Have to see how things develop in the next 48 hours. What would you do for a short trip? Is it worth the drive time to skip the airport?

Nightmare in Meadowview

My heart goes out to the people in the Meadowview neighborhood, who are currently suffering through the most murderous year in the city’s recent history–one killing a month this year, and staggeringly three in the last week. Overall, 42 murders in the city YTD represent a 35 percent increase over 2005.

Firstly, after my last string of posts about crime in the city and the Commissioner’s public response, I want to make sure I put it on record that the men and women on the street fighting crime have my respect and support. I wouldn’t want to give the impression that I think the uniformed cops and detectives are not trying hard to win the war. My beef is with the attitude expressed in the leadership’s public statements–that people in crime-challeneged neighborhoods should not worry because most of the violent crime is being committed by hardened criminals.

Well, they are at it again regarding the situation in Meadowview…
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Everybody’s Working for the Weekend

Kenny Loggins, Loverboy, Boyz II Men, REO Speedwagon, Sinbad, Village People, Rick Springfield, Ted Nugent and Tesla. The cast of a new reality show where washed up celebrities go on diets or blind dates? NO. The soundtrack to your upcoming high school reunion? NO. The leftover Karaoke choices at the end of a long night on a cheesy cruise to Ensenada (she asks from experience)? Alas, no.

My friends, these are the headline acts for the California State Fair starting this Friday. Are we not California? Can we not do better than this? It’s bad enough that it will be hot and the parking overpriced but really, Tesla?

Updates on the Refabbed SSW Midtown

I don’t really know what to call the area southeast of the Capital, but let’s not quibble. I’m here to let you know what’s going on in that unnamed corridor:
1) Paesano’s new venture, “Pronto,” (“Real Italian, Real Fast”) is getting ready to open any day, improper grammar or not. A quick conversation with the manager of the enterprise (a fellow JHS alumn by the way) says that they’ll be open by next Monday for sure. So drop by the 16th and O St location for a quick meal. The menu on the wall looks like a sandwich and salad heavy mix with only a few pasta dishes and full entrees. One of those entrees, however, is bacon wrapped meatloaf. SCORE!
2) The old Icon on 15th and R is slowly coming together as a combo locale akin to Monkey Bar/Cafe Bernardo. From the signage on the windows it looks like it will be a Bar15/Cafe Bernardo combo. (Hey, if it ain’t broke…) Let’s see if this incarnation can coexist with Empire, since no other restaurant entity has made it so far in that spot. Good luck, Randy.

The other shoe falls

Taking a break from our regularly sheduled arena-gate programming to report that my electric bill arrived yesterday.

My billing cycle runs nearly from the beginning to the end of the month, so it included the entire run of the heat storm. My house is about 1,200 square feet, and I did try to conserve energy. Even at that, the air conditioning ran 24/7 for at least a week. Setting it at 78 … 80 … 82 didn’t help — it still ran 24/7.

And it cost me: $190.66 for the month of July.

Yes, it’s a hit. But I take consolation from the fact the SMUD is one of the least expensive energy outfits in the state — we’re paying one-third less than PG&E customers in West Sacramento, for example — and, of course, I’m grateful that I had air conditioning (thinking of the people who didn’t, and died) and could afford to run it.

So I guess I can’t kick much. But you’re still going to hear a lot of howling across town as people open those envelopes.

Hope August is relatively cool.