Tag: IsItJustUs?

This morning when I got on my bus (50E, the fastest ride from the Southside to downtown) I saw three young men–about 12 or 13– all with Spider-Man backpacks like the one shown at right. I thought it was sort of cute, like maybe they were way into Spidey when the blockbuster movie came out and they aren’t ready to grow up yet, or mom wouldn’t shell out for a replacement. But it was three of them. And then waiting for my return bus after work, I saw an older high school gal, perhaps even 18, sporting Spidey on her back. What is the deal? Anybody hip to the youth of Sacramento and their customs? Should we be worried? Was it 2 separate sightings with no connection and no implication?

Speaking of driving, I’ve had a fascination with people’s license plate frames recently after finding out, with a well placed inquiry, that the license plate frames with “KA 4993” on them are not flashing CB call letters nor some secret Mormon code as I had previously deduced, but instead indicate that the driver is a family member of a CHP officer.

This got me thinking of other area specific car adornments, and, by far, I find the most annoying to be the “Harrold Ford since 1911” license plate frame. Why, you ask? Because, Harrold Ford, if you’ve been around since 1911 then you have had time to fix the stupid license plate frame you have where the numbers 1-9-1-1 run up into the corner of the frame like it was designed by some 6 year old who started with letters that were too big and still tried to cram everything in at the end of the line. Have some pride for Chrissakes. If your logo doesn’t fit on your advertising medium then maybe it’s time to find a new logo or a new medium, not to fit your oh so catchy logo on the back of a Focus that’s cluttered with “Mystery Spot” and “Keep Tahoe Blue” stickers. For the love of God, just put your name on the frame and leave it at that. Is that so hard? Maybe I should start taking the Light Rail.

Lately around town, everytime I’ve gone into a store, I’ve heard the smooth song stylings of Michael McDonald raining down over the PA system. It’s like, he’s following me everywhere I go. It’s getting kind of spooky.

Is this a variation of the “Phil Collins Effect“? Or is McDonald just that popular?

You’ll remember from a few months ago, this little controversy:

Because California law prohibits punishing police officers over the number of citations issued, Fairfield Police Chief Bill Gresham has denied the department uses any ticket quotas. John White, who retired as a sergeant four years ago, disputes this claim saying that those who didn’t issue enough tickets were labeled “red” and punished while those who wrote a large number of tickets were labeled “green” and rewarded. The city of 100,000 earns $494,000 from traffic fines and $62,000 from parking tickets each year.

There may be something to this, Sacramento. Let me tell you my story…
Continue reading “I fought the law…”

The “Feeder Line” in
Action at Del Taco

You know when you’re in the checkout line at the grocery store and it starts to back up the cashier will call for assistance on the PA system and a new cashier will appear and walk up to the next person in line and basically escort them to the newly opened register? I wish they had this process everywhere as I’ve been noticing a trend lately from coffee shops to drug stores: The Feeder Line.
Continue reading “Please form a line”

The story of Starbucks is no secret. I think we all understand that there literally IS a Starbucks at every corner. In fact, there are currently 4,666 Company-operated coffeehouses and 2,222 licensed locations in the United States alone. I also think we can agree that whether you like their coffee or not (I’m a Peet’s guy actually) they are here to stay. What got me to post today is best illustrated by the photo I’ve provided and the number 13. Why 13 you ask? Well 13 is the number of cars in line at the Starbucks on Eastern and Arden this morning. What’s worse? That 13 people decided that waiting in line for 20 minutes for a cup of joe rather than drive down the road a mile or two to another location OR that 13 people chose to use the drive through for a cup of joe rather than park their car and go into the store which is FAR less crowded than the drive through line (I’ve been paying close attention to this over the last few months and find it to be true).

Reader’s note: Should you find yourself near this location in the future, the coffee at Whole Foods Market is quite delicious and they rarely have more than 2 or 3 people in line. “But Whole Foods Market is so…” I know, I know. Just go for th coffee, dammit.

As we’ve noted here in the past, Sacramento loves anything new. People find no trouble freeing up some time, grabbing a lawn chair, and hopping in line to check out something fresh. Well I caught a story recently on KCRA that I really need your help with. Apparently over in Orangevale there was something to get in line for.

As part of Thursday’s grand opening for the 99 Cents Only store, the first nine customers got an iPod Nano for just 99 cents.

Now stay with me here as this is where your help comes in. The first nine customers, right? Meaning that, say, 10 to 15 people might show up and hope some of the lucky first niners will pull a hammy or something and have to remove themselves from contention, right? Or did I miss something in the fine print? Because if you watch Suzanne Phan‘s video report you’ll find that folks came to play…the day before! With camping gear in tow. Now if only the Kings showed this much heart.

If you listen to KWOD 2.0 with any regularity, I’ve got a wager for you: Bet you can’t go a week without hearing that Spacehog song. You know, the only Spacehog song anybody knows. It was great for that one week in 1995, but I’m not sure how you’re going to contrast yourself from Bob or Jack or their younger cousin (coming soon, I’m sure) by putting it on weekly rotation. What’s next, Marcy’s Playground?