Thursday, November 27, 2008

Full, expanded, no room

Tonight is Thanksgiving.

I am still awake, and it is nearly 9:30PM, a good indication that I did not end up eating too much. In fact, I had about the right amount of food, although a bit too much wine. My contribution to the meal was a fancied-up pumpkin pie from the latest issue of Better Homes & Gardens, a magazine that recently began showing up at my apartment. I believe it is a magazine from a neighbor that moved away earlier this fall.

This weekend my sister's household is dog watching Ladia, a border collie. I had earlier thought I didn't like this variety of canine, but so far this weekend I am being convinced otherwise. The dog is very lovable, relatively quiet, polite, and available to children. That's more that I can say for other dogs I know.

I have a large Thanksgiving Day task to perform. I have to grade nearly 14 presentations and read several articles. I would like to do some of it tonight, but sleep is tempting me. I did, after all, injest many delicious foods plus dessert.

Tomorrow we go see newborn babies, shop intermittently, grade, and go have drinks with my friend Graham from LA. It shall be diverse and entertaining.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Field work


These are the dirtiest smelliest buses on Fisherman's Wharf.


In field work you often take pictures of people when they don't expect it. Lucky me for stumbling upon such an idiotic tshirt, eh?


Pedestrian-vehicle conflict #43.


I tracked bus parking all weekend. Exciting, I know.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

January 20.... I'll be there

The recent change of power in government has prompted me to arrange plans to attend the upcoming inauguration festivities on the National Mall on the morning of January 20.

The decision was easy to make. I will miss the first two days of classes at UC Berkeley, but it is certainly worth it. History is being made every single day, but this day will prove to be one that is especially remembered.

The hard thing about it is forking over the $700 for a plane ticket. That is how much they are running. I got two plane tickets home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas that were cheaper than that. Anyone else planning to go?

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Simple as that

I have never adored Ohio as much as I do tonight. Thank you.



Sunday, November 02, 2008

Thursday, October 30, 2008

No pet time

It turns out that yes, indeed, the orphan feline is a case of a flaky neighbor. Apparently the cat is chipped and has a legal address. One of my neighbors took it in for an ID check over the summer.

This evening I found it sleeping in one of the planters on my porchette.

It found us, so what are we to do?

There are always great stories I hear about how people come across hapless, lost, desperate animals, take them in, and end up finding their ideal pet companions.

This may be happening on Grove Street!

A most precious feline has been making itself known to us for the last week. It really likes all of the people in the house, and I think my roommates like it, too. I will attempt to get a photo of it.

The little guy is pretty much everything I want in a cat: short hair, grey, green eyes, extremely attentive, cute, and affectionate. Basically a 180 of Emily, the crazy mottled calico that we had to take care of on Bateman Street.


This is the cat that found us.

Neal will have to let us have it. All the other people have cats in our building.

I posted an ad on Craigslist for a lost cat. I am hoping it's simply not a matter of a flakey neighbor not caring that their cat is hanging out on traffic ridden MLK.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Renobama

Update from the:



What we were up against:





Our available resources:



The lay of the landscape:



Our secret weapon:





The glorious outcomes:


This is the craps table at the famed Club CalNeva.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Shows!

The SF fall concert season tidbits:

Heartless Bastards, The Independent, Sat. Nov. 8
Bart Davenport, Bottom of the Hill, Fri. Nov. 14.
Ben Sollee, Cafe du Nord, Mon. Nov. 24
Hot Buttered Rum String Band, Great American Music Hall, Nov. 29

Portland tidbits:

Weinland, The DougFir Lounge, Fri. Dec. 12

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Great song

The Rainbow Connection - please play at my funeral

Why are there so many
Songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side
Rainbow's are visions
They're only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we've been told and some chose to
Believe it
But I know they're wrong wait and see

Someday we'll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

Who said that every wish
Would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star

Somebody thought of that
And someone believed it
And look what it's done so far
What's so amazing
That keeps us star gazing
What so we think we might see

Someday we'll find it
That Rainbow Connection
The lovers the dreamers and me

Have you been half asleep
And have you heard voices
I've heard them calling my name
Are these the sweet sounds that called
The young sailors
I think they're one and the same
I've heard it too many times to ignore it
There's something that I'm supposed to be

Someday we'll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Journey to the desert

Having returned from an exciting weekend in Reno, NV, many people in my class have been interested to know what kinds of things transpired. Here is a detail list:

1. Our hotel clerk at the Rodeway Inn on Market Street had been up for 20 hours or more waiting at the early vote polling place to open, then he logged in another 10 hours checking Obama supporters into their rooms at the front desk. That's dedication.
2. Breakfast at the Rodeway Inn is a modest affair requiring massive use of styrofoam plates, cups, and bowls.
3. Thank god the campaign organizers were actually organized. We had no problems locating our canvassing neighborhoods
4. Most people are flattered that their state is getting the attention of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of California campaign volunteers for each of the last consecutive 4 weekends....and counting...
5. Old women will want to invite my old roommate Garrett in for pie when he's at their door.
6. People in gated communities have a false sense that their neighborhoods are permeable and tolerant to civic dogooders such as ourselves.
7. Apartment dwellers know you are coming because you have knocked on the doors of all their surrounding neighborhoods, and all their dogs are roused to full alert-mode.
8. It is nice to celebrate a long day on the canvassing circuit at the Sports Book at the Calneva.

That is all. Pictures forthcoming.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Disparate postings explained

Ever since the issue of the Fox was resolved, my rate of posting updates has been rather dismal. The difficultly lies in that there have been multiple deadlines the last couple weeks, a pattern that will sadly continue through November 7.

A brief break will occur this weekend with a short jaunt to Reno, NV. A classmate has suggested several places where an authentic cross sectional sampling of Reno may be observed.

In the meantime, we work hard for China's progress in our studio work, with a stark annoyance for the residential solar codes which create largely uninhabitable landscapes.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Preaching in the desert



Christina and I head off for a journey to behead the Nevada McCain monster next Friday...

Saturday, October 04, 2008

The best car ever belongs to a nice guy now

Saturday, 10:25 AM, outside my apt. on Grove Street, overcast, 62F.

I handed the Vicente Fox over to a nice guy, Morgan Gibson. He was not a Nazi. He appeared to be a very well-mannered middle class white kid, aged 24 or 25.

He paid cash and was very good about signing the forms I needed signed. The best part is that Morgan lives less than 1/2 mile from me, so in all likelihood, today won't be the last day I see the Fox in Berkeley.

One regret is that I didn't get a photo of me beside the car before it was driven away. In all the 15 years that it's been in the family, not once did I have my picture taken next to it. Kind of sad seeing how much I love it. Then again, it is just a hunk of metal. But a very cute hunk of metal, indeed.

Morgan dropped by a few hours after I sold him the car. He needed another signature. He said he really liked the car and was so glad he got it.

I think I did well today.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Pride, er, price, takes a hit.

The lack of interested parties for the amazing VW Fox I've listed on Craigslist has confounded me the last three days. Last night, feeling a tad defeated, I re-listed the car for $125 less than the original asking price.

It now is priced at a budget-conscious $750. A veritable STEAL, I mind you. I would buy it myself if I wasn't also the owner of a recently repaired Honda Civic.

It seems that the $125 reduction entered me into an entirely different bracket of potential buyers. Today alone I had three or four inquiries, most of them quite serious, and none of them were Nazis as far as I could tell. All were men and most of them I am guessing are Latinos.

I like the idea of giving my car to a hard working person. I just hope that they do not plan to drive the thing long distances everyday, as the Fox is ripe for a new timing belt (not a cheap repair, but the asking price puts that into consideration). The problem with repairing the timing belt is that you cannot wait to fix it before it breaks. If you wait until it breaks, then the engine will be broken as well, and the car will be worthless. I am pretty sure of not telling this to potential buyers. The way I figure it, if you entertain the idea of buying a 19 year old car (that was manufactured in Brazil), you also take on the burden of the imminent repair.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

A Nazi wants my Fox

In the last two days, I have only gotten two inquiries about the most terrific car that is for sale in the East Bay. It is very discouraging, and I blame the lack of email traffic on the pending financial crisis.

The first response I got was from some dude with an email address that caused immediate suspicion (onmyhustle17@aim.com). I immediately recoiled, thinking, "Why would I want to be hustled?" Also, the dude's sentence structure and greeting he put in the email left me doubtful he'd be the distinguished kind of soul I'd prefer to have driving my car. I didn't write him back, if you were wondering.

Then, this afternoon, I got a tug on my fishing line. The email as follows:

Hi,
I'm interested in the car...do you have any more pics of the interior? or a close-up of the paint or any dents?
Do you have service records? Do you know when the registration is up?
Thanks,
-dan

'Nice enough sounding guy' immediately went through my mind. Who is this Dan? Does he have a respectable driving record? Is he employed? Will he take my car to Karmakanix when it needs mechanical upkeep? All these questions, and more, were looming.

I decided to write him back. I looked at his name as it compared with the name listed on the email. They were different! Very, very different in fact. The email name seemed like it was for some fictional character. Interesting. So I googled it. What I found was most distressing. In fact, it almost caused me to spit up.

This person knowingly and consciously assigned the name of a Nazi (the alleged successor to Hitler it seems) to his gmail email address. It IS that awful.

This is why Craigslist is such a damn crapshoot. You go out there, with honest intentions of selling the best car in the world, and a blasted Nazi writes you an email!!

It isn't surprising given the events of the last week, with the financial crisis and all. All kinds of diseased vermin is slithering out of the woodwork for a good deal, I guess.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Selling my soul.....

...well, actually just selling my car.

It's a sad day. This morning, I rallied myself to fix a small hose problem on the Fox (windshield fluid hose was dried out). Having fixed it with great effort and uttering of expletives, I took the little soldier to the car wash place to get cleaned and vacuumed. After that was accomplished, there was really nothing left to do but post this ad on Craigslist.

Originally I said I would sell her for $500, but pride got the better of me and I simply couldn't offer her for less that eight and three quarters. We will see what happens.

If anyone wants to buy the best car in the world, please email me at the address on this ad. Really, you won't regret it.

In other car-related news, the Civic has been patched up. The guys down at La Loma did a great job, and they didn't try to shirk me outta my student discount they mentioned when I got the quote. I paid $1300 for the work (the other place wanted $2300!!). A hard lesson, but now I have the car fully insured.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

I am tempted by the body's offer

La Loma came in under my limit. Way under, it turns out. I really do not understand how a repair using similar parts and relatively identical labor methods could possibly vary by as much as $1000. Dear god, thank goodness I had the sense to get a second quote.

Anyway, while I was satisfied with La Loma's assessment of damage to my Civic I am quite certain the quality of work may not turn out as detailed as Uptown. But it is likely going to be more than adequate. I shall call them tomorrow to schedule my repair.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Headed "downtown"

Billy Joel expressed my sentiments best back in 1983 when he exclaimed:

Im gonna try for an uptown girl
Shes been living in her white bread world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now shes looking for a downtown man
That's what I am.


After my visit to Uptown Fender and Body on 26th Street in Oakland, I am truly in the market for a downtown man. Er, a downtown body shop.

The quote I received today for described damage was $2300. Ouch! I can't imagine what the price would be if anything other than the exterior had been damaged. Unfortunately, in the world of auto body repair, it's the man-hour estimate that will drain the bank. The availability of cheap replacement parts, though a blessing, in fact distorts the actual price of simple and routine auto body repair. Aside from parts, I was told it would take between 20 and 25 man hours (at $70 an hour!) to complete all the painting, buff work, repositioning, and smoke breaks needed to get the Civic into relatively excellent condition.

I am headed to a competitor of Uptown tomorrow, a placed called La Loma (which translates to "The Body"), to acquisition a counter-quote to Uptown's offer (if I can even consider it an "offer"). I assume the enterprise is headed by a group of highly-skilled Latino auto craftsmen. At least, that is what I can hope for. I've decided that I will go with them if they offer near-similar services and can do it for below $1900. That is La Loma's cut off. I've heard too many good things about Uptown to not use them to save a measly $400.

I hate cars....and having two of them that I rarely drive is most annoying.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Not a virgin

This past weekend my cherry was popped on Hwy 101 going through SF. That is, I got into my first car accident. A sad day.

The altercation was my fault, admittedly. Gridlock stop and go on a beautiful Saturday afternoon caused me to become a tad impatient. I attempted to change lanes while coasting. At the moment I looked into my side mirror to check my opportunity, the car in front of me slammed on its breaks. I slid into his back left bumper at about 12 miles and hour. At least it was no more than 12.

Here is the damage to my car...my new(er) car. Shame.



Here is my victim, a blue Toyota Prius. I am most certain that damn bumper is going to be several thousand dollars to replace considering the fact the entire car is practically enveloped by it. I am quite amazed the impact of the crash did nothing to harm the equally enormous light panel. I was REALLY close.



The dude I hit was more than pleasant considering the fact I made a dumb mistake. He didn't even seem too annoyed, but he may have been hiding his disgust. I can't really tell. The car had some previous damage to it, the result of hitting a jack rabbit in the deserts of Utah going 70 mph. There was also a large scratch on the paint job near one of the passenger doors. Apparently, this guy was no virgin either, and I really thank heavens for that. Otherwise, I'd more than likely have been dealing with some self righteous Prius owner who wholeheartedly believes the universe revolves around their ugly car.

The situation was made more complex as I had to provide insurance information belonging to my sister's policy. About 2 weeks before the crash, I'd applied for my own insurance, but I had no cards to prove otherwise. Since then, the issue has been cleared and my insurance is now covering the accident.

Tomorrow, I shall take my car into Uptown Body and Fender, located in the heart of Oakland. This woman-owned business has some amazing reviews on the Berkeley Parents' Network, a resource, that, strangely, I trust and utilize in moments of great need. I've heard that you get free cappuccino while you wait on your free quote. I can't wait.