To the naughty step you go!

The Clever Way to Calmer Kids
If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

While browsing Goore’s recently, I came across this little gem (YouTube video). Apparently, how to handle your misbehaving little one is not has easy as it used to be. The Time Out Pad solves your problems by putting your child in virtual lock down.

The makers (Gro-Group) ask, “How do you monitor a time out when you’ve got so many things to do? And what happens if a child gets up during the time out? How does the child know when the time out is finished?” Their solution: a plastic cushion equipped with a red-yellow-green light, a timer, and congratulatory beeping when their time out is over. Unless your kid bails on their time out, and then an alarm will sound.

You know, unless. I guess this is how electric dog fences were created. Oooh, that gives me an idea!

St. Francis Elem. School to move to Tahoe Park

Sac Bee reports that earthquake retrofit rules will force the St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School to relocate… to the former site of John Paul II School in Tahoe Park.

[St. Francis Principal Laurie] Power said estimates for the retrofitting have come in between $3 million to $5 million.

“We obviously don’t have that kind of money lying around in our checkbooks,” Power said. “It will take a lot of planning.”

Funny, the only reason there is an empty site is that the diocese didn’t have a dime to save John Paul II. I am happy though that the site in Tahoe Park won’t go unused.

No hoodies for young men


Creative Commons License photo credit: Life of Sport

The movement to rid the world of hoodies took another step forward recently according to an article on news10.net regarding a proposed dress code for patrons of Regional Transit.

“It can be intimidating sometimes when people are wearing hoodies,” Hammond said. “We need to create a friendlier atmosphere for everyone riding.”

The snark opportunities here are endless. Bonus points for working in a reference to the new 100.5 radio station tag line…

CoolDMZ declares Independence

This is where I live now:

The land mass on the left is a small (football field-size) island off the edge of Scotts Flat Lake in Nevada County, and it is where I spent by Fourth (a few blissful hours of it, anyway). (Here it is on Google Maps.) It was kind of like Tom Sawyer’s Island, the Disney attraction, but with 100% fewer pirate corpses.

We didn’t attend the parade this year but the weather was perfect.

Artest goes short

Ron Artest loves animals
Ah, how cute.

I missed this story about former Sacramento King Ron Artest shorting his home in Loomis.

The short sale that Artest used to escape his losing real estate investment has become a commonplace tactic in an area beset by plunging housing prices…In Sacramento County, 58 percent of homes for sale in mid-May were short sales, according to Metrolist Services.

Wow. The house is dog-friendly though (FauxPaws!).

With the sale, the forgiven debt is $480,000, but Artest just might get a parting gift out of his short stay in Sacramento. Recently signed state and federal legislation eliminates taxes on forgiven mortgage debt from 2009 through the end of 2012.

Eliminates taxes? Whoa, whoa, whoa. I thought taxes were, oh, nevermind…

I wonder if this will be included in his new reality series.

Things to do this weekend

Tower Bridge & Fireworks
Creative Commons License photo credit: Logan Sakai

The Sacramento Press has put together a nice listing of the events going on this weekend to celebrate the Fourth of July.

I recently attended a Rivercats game on fireworks night and, man, it’s quite a show. Friday is also $1 Hot Dogs & Desserts night. You can’t beat Raley Field to catch a game.

Anything else going on? I’m sort of ambivalent about this holiday. I love me some flag waving and parading, but could really use less of the round-the-clock neighborhood fireworks for days before and after. Damn kids and their tomfoolery.

Masullo:Revisited

Over a year ago, I had my first experience with Masullo, the small, upscale pizzeria on Riverside Boulevard. I sung its praises on this here weblog  and vowed to return often to sup full on Masullo’s perfect pies.

Well, until last weekend I hadn’t been back once. Don’t ask me why. Life just has a way of moving right by you like a slick river of slurry underneath your feet as you stand in front of the slurry outflow of the slurry plant in slurry county USA. Slurry aside, I was a bit anxious about revisiting the pizza purveyor, worried my memories of the place wouldn’t quite add up to the reality. It turns out that my memories, instead of hyperbolizing the savory goodness that lies behind Masullo’s simple glass door, had dulled like…some…uh…thingamajig that gets dulled by slurry. Masullo is as fresh and vibrant as ever, pumping out pies that touch that little inner pizza child in all of us (and not in an SVU way). Continue reading “Masullo:Revisited”

Domino’s pizza asking for SSN?

If you’re ordering a Domino’s pizza, that’s your first mistake, but beware the following, via Consumerist:

[Consumerist reader Brent says] the Domino’s dude wouldn’t let him pay with a credit card unless he offered up his Social Security Number or driver’s license number. Since Brent was smart enough to know you only give such information to Girl Scouts and those guys who go to door-to-door selling magazine subscriptions, he checked it out with his local Domino’s, which told him the nosyness is store policy.

I’m not sure if there is a problem with giving the DL#, and this is not confirmed to be happening here in Sacto, but still, caveat eator.

More radio retreading in Sacramento

Radio station 100.5 The Zone has been made over as Now 100.5.

CBS Radio has relaunched Hot AC “100.5 The Zone” KZZO Sacramento as Adult CHR “Now 100.5″ playing “Today’s Best Hits Without The Rap” at noon today.

“Without the Rap.” Love it.

The first hour consisted of:
Daughtry – What About Now, Nickelback – This Afternoon, Lady Gaga – Bad Romance, The Script – Breakeven, Train – Calling All Angels, Pink – Who Knew, Bon Jovi – Who Says You Can’t Go Home, Ke$ha – Your Love Is My Drug, 3 Doors Down – Kryptonite, Shinedown – Second Chance, Uncle Kracker – Smile, David Cook – Light On, Kings Of Leon – Sex On Fire, Kris Allen – The Truth, Theory Of A Deadman – Not Meant To Be, Adam Lambert – Whataya Want From Me, Daughtry – Home, John Mayer – Heartbreak Warfare

Taking a real chance, huh?

City pools open today

James McClatchy Park pool, c.1918. Ralph Congdon Collection

For what it’s worth. Five pools are closed this year for recreational swimming, and those that are open are typically open a grand total of 12 hours per week. The schedule is wack, as the kids would say. All pools that are still open are open from 2-4pm, and one assumes the bright spot was supposed to be that they are all open 6 days a week, but any way you slice it, gone are the days of killing time by the pool.

Obviously they are in dire straits to keep the doors open at all. Since these are permanent assets they basically have to keep them open. I’m not sure whether they considered closing a few of them permanently, keeping the larger pools open for longer periods. I’m also not sure why they didn’t consider staggered schedules (T/Th or M/W/F) as they used to do. It seems like either of those schedules would be more convenient for patrons.

Not to mention: how do they find trained lifeguards willing to work a grand total of 12 hours per week?