I did a post in May about the June election for the city council spot left over from when Rocky "Government is the problem so I'm going to take another government job" Chavez left.
So now I'm doing a post about the city council candidate forum at St Mary Star of the Sea school auditorium tonight sponsored by the League of Women Voters. The last time I attended the forum there was 2 years ago and there were a LOT of candidates; this year there are only 4. I guess this is OK; it reduces choices but it also focuses candidates and issues. Perennial Loony Party candidate Mike Lucas is NOT - I repeat - NOT running this time. That makes me a little sad.
Background
The four are Gary Felien (current city treasurer), Jerry Kern, Chuck Lowery and Rex Martin (no website listed on campaign flyer, tsk tsk).
We all know Kern, he is an incumbent and has been controversial for a lot of reasons. He did ace the recall election a while back, though, so he can say that his controversies are supported by the citizens of the city. As far as I can tell and his campaign materials and his website don't mention it he has never owned his own business so he'll have to hold up the "red" card when the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce Q and A happens in a few days and they ask that question (because you know they're gonna ask that question like they did last May). He's lived here since 1975.
Felien is the current city treasurer, a pal of Kern's and Feller's who was appointed after Rosemary Jones who held the treasurer spot for decades passed away in office. He's a bean counter by profession, as you'd expect a treasurer to be, right? Was a corporate type for a long time and then fell into this job due to his connections as far as I can tell and also as far as I can tell has never owned his own business so he'll have to hold up the "red" card, too. He's lived here since 1988.
Lowery is the local boy who grew up here, went to school here, ran a successful business for decades here and is a current incumbent. He can hold up the green card for "that" question.
Rex Martin is a transplant from the Midwest and hasn't lived here all that long. Is currently on the Arts Commission and is a former city councilman and mayor of the town of Birmingham, Michigan (which is where he's from). Birmingham is about 10-15 miles north of Detroit. He was also the "Emergency Communications Director" for San Francisco for many years. He'll have to hold up the red card.
Issues
I-5 Widening
Lowery and Martin are negative on it, Felien and Kern are positive on it. I suppose there is some influence a City Council member can exert on this process, I can't see how there would be all that much of a different outcome.
Kern did toss off a throwaway comment I thought was wrong. He said that the people who are pushing for more mass transit infrastructure are the types who want everyone else to take mass transportation so they can have a clear freeway.
You know, if only I could take a Sprinter-like tram/lightrail/trolley down to San Diego and back at reasonable hours (like until 1 or 2 AM) I'd never drive my car again. And I know many people who feel the same way, since many of us have taken mass transportation in many cities in the world and recognize it's convenience, cost effectiveness and ease of use.
Someone else made a negative comment about eminent domain (Martin, maybe?). Well, guess what? This sort of thing is exactly what eminent domain was invented for in the US Constitution. Kelo - as bad as that decision was - does not apply in this case.
RdO Interchange
Speaking of outmoded transportation assumptions, the panel was split 2-2 on the Rancho del Oro interchange, too. Felien and Kern yes, Lowery and Martin no. No one was asked about their opinion on improving the SR78 and I-5 interchange.
Water
As I recall pretty much everyone was in favor of ramping up the desalination plant's capacity to allow us to be free(er) from the Metropolitan Water District. Felien was couching it in terms of "what's cheaper" (compared to rate increases) but I think leadership in this area would stress independence rather than a simple cost analysis. Independence is worth something intangible (like a business' "good will") and could be sold to the citizens that way, too.
Animal Control
A new topic that has reared its ugly head in the last few days is the situation with the (former) North County Animal Shelter and animal control services. We had a contract with the animal shelter that they wold provide animal control services but they have decided they don't want to renew the contract and so now we're rtying to find out if we can boot them from the building they are in due to lease term violations (providing animal control was part of the lease in 1963, apparently there is a feverish effort to analyze the leases since then to see if that term still applies). So everyone was in favor of booting them if we can.
Campaign Spending
Oceanside needs to do something about its campaign spending laws; there is no legal requirement for a candidate to reveal who is giving him/her money until after the campaign is over. That's both stupid and crazy and quite frankly every candidate should support a transparent process where every donation is posted to a public site where anyone can see it as soon as it is accepted by the candidate. Because you guys have nothing to hide, right? You're perfectly OK with the money you are receiving from your donors and can defend every transaction.
Felien was in favor of this and was the only guy to mention it.
The other discussion was about contribution limits which digressed to a discussion about special interests running campaigns instead of candidates running them, but with a full transparency law - which would not violate free speech rights the way limiting campaign contributions might - is the one single way Oceanside citizens, voters and public servants can be equally behind and support.
Trailer park rent control
Felien and Kern are against it, Lowery and Martin support it.
Those pretty much were the topics discussed. The candidates also discussed their opinions on Prop 23 but I don't think that's relevant here.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
To the Beach
I went down the beach today to go swimming, the first time in many months I've done that. The water was a decently warm 69 degrees and the tide was +1.5 right as I was there at 4:30 PM, so high that there was almost no dry sand. Normally a high tide would not have such a drastic effect on the sand but this last winter the storms were very strong and a lot of sand was washed out to sea. The beach level at the end of Oceanside Blvd (lifeguard tower 9) is at least 5 or 6 feet lower than normal; the waves were washing right up the access ramp, something that never happens otherwise.
The beach down at the pier is in even worse shape; instead of a typical SoCal sandy beach there are hundreds of yards of exposed rocks of varying sizes and a 2 or 3 foot berm of sand that one has to climb up or down to get to the water.
It's ugly, unappealing and a tourist turn-off. Word gets around fast with the internet these days; a bunch of tourists posting at hotel review sites or tourism sites or wherever will note the poor condition of the beach and warn other potential visitors away. We can't pretend that no one reads travel boards or hotel review sites.
Tourism is vital for a beach town but our appeal lies in our beaches and water; we will be suffering a lot this summer, I bet.
The beach down at the pier is in even worse shape; instead of a typical SoCal sandy beach there are hundreds of yards of exposed rocks of varying sizes and a 2 or 3 foot berm of sand that one has to climb up or down to get to the water.
It's ugly, unappealing and a tourist turn-off. Word gets around fast with the internet these days; a bunch of tourists posting at hotel review sites or tourism sites or wherever will note the poor condition of the beach and warn other potential visitors away. We can't pretend that no one reads travel boards or hotel review sites.
Tourism is vital for a beach town but our appeal lies in our beaches and water; we will be suffering a lot this summer, I bet.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
New Website Look and Feel
I've spent the last two weeks off and on revamping my website; out with the late 90's html and in with the early 2000's css! Yay!
Alan Zeleznikar Dot Com
Alan Zeleznikar Dot Com
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Clean Up Time
Have you guys started top pick up your signs yet? They transformed from free speech to litter at 8:00 PM local time.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
2010 Oceanside City Council Election
Tonight I went to the Oceanside City Council chambers to sit in on the candidate forum for the special election we're having to fill Rocky Chavez' empty spot. It was sponsored by the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce and moderated by one of the members, maybe the president. I don't know exactly, because...
Confession: L called me right as the session was started needing some help so I missed the first 30 minutes because I was talking to her. Sorry, priorities.
The forum had 7 candidates: Lloyd Prosser, Mike Lucas, Chuck Lowery, Ward O'Doherty, a write-in named Dowell and Ken Crossman.
Lucas was not nearly as looney as he was 2 years ago at the last one of these I attended; he's a slippery one. His website and campaign materials seem reasonable; you have to actually interact with him to get that he's a crank. He did claim that our water supply is not safe and does not meet Federal regulations for safety because he has it tested every year and it flunks. No details though. He has a real issue with water and development; he's lived here 30+ years and this is the second time I've heard him complain that there are too many houses and people here. No comment about what he would do about that, such as, I dunno, having the City buy up houses he doesn't like or something, but he doesn't believe in water conservation "because my house was built in 1975 and when I moved here there was enough water." He also commented that he'd vote "No" on everything.
Of the remaining candidates, Dowell doesn't stand a chance as a write-in and did not say anything noteworthy anyway. Crossman doesn't have a website and had no campaign materials available so he's out. That leaves Lowrey, O'Doherty and Prosser.
Lowery first; a lifetime Oceanside resident and now a former small business owner; he sold his bakery that he'd run for decades here in town a few months ago apparently. Basically supports redevelopment without sweetheart deals to developers, supports the idea of city employees paying into CALPERS (everyone did, no differentiation there). Surprising to me he does not support a city-funded July 4 celebration "in this recession." Supports re-sanding the beaches with taxpayer money (which is how it gets done, by the way).
O'Doherty is a new-comer to the political scene. He is a former TV show producer and director and is claiming a credit for the 1996 Olympics, the Academy Awards and Golden Globes and some other stuff. I haven't been able to find anything on that so my conclusion is that he was some peon second unit guy and not a part of the primary production team. He is now a "financial advisor" - you know, one of those useless professions whose services no one really needs. He seems like a decent enough guy, very earnest and frustrated at the "closed club" that is local politics. He seemed to be in favor of the same things everyone else was. Didn't support the beach sand thing, which tells me he hasn't lived in beach towns very much. Also thought we didn't accentuate tourism enough (but apparently won't pay to rebuild the beaches every Spring, go figure).
He did get off a funny comment during the Q&A where they were all asked "Do any of you have a family member already working for the city?" His comment was "I don't have any family members working anywhere."
By the way, there was a reason for that question...
And now to Lloyd Prosser. Of all of these guys, Prosser "looks" and "acts" like a politician - very smooth, very congenial. Comes off as reasonable. A life-long Oceanside resident (sort of since he was in the USMC and retired as a Lt Col but apparently was born here and went to Oside High and has lived here since at least retirement 20 years ago) he, again, seemed to be in line with the other 2 or 3 guys I was watching. He spent 17 years as an Oceanside Utilities Commission bureaucrat and is now some sort of government "consultant" (eyeroll). But, all that bullshit notwithstanding and this in my opinion is a big negative, his wife is Vicky Prosser, who is Jack "Cement Plant" Feller's personal assistant. So, I guess if you like that guy then you'll like Lloyd Prosser. I dunno, do we really need another frickin' USMC retired officer on the City Council? Rocky was such a success for the city, after all... (that was sarcasm).
There were several other questions asked by the moderator (where they came from I don't know, they weren't audience-sourced) that were semi-stupid in their form, such as "How many of you have ever signed the front of a paycheck?" Meaning, I suppose, how many of you have ever owned a business?" But were I a clerk working at a payroll company I could say "Yes" to that question. Later they were asked if they had ever "managed" a business, which you can say "yes" to and not be the owner. So, I'll go ahead and say some dipshit at the Oside Chamber of Commerce thought that first question was "clever."
I guess the Waste Management trash and recycling contract is crappy and everyone was all over that, too.
So, we're kinda same-old same-old as far as choices go here, meaning the pool of candidates do not represent any sort of radical agenda and they are all professional looking and acting, something that was also emphasized as important for council relations. The more moderate left leaning candidates actually have more relevant experience at running businesses than the more right leaning ones (one of whom has basically spent his entire adult life sucking on the government teat either in the military or as a civilian government bureaucrat), even though that always seems to be oh so very important to the right leaning voters.
How ironic, and not in a "black fly in your chardonnay" kind of way.
A quick note about Proposition K, the charter city proposition. This thing is a stinker, but not in the concept, it is a stinker in the execution. It was written by Associated Builders and Contractors lobbyist Bill Baber with/for Jack Feller (he's not smart enough to be able to write something like that himself). It's just their little project, done in secret with who knows what kind or "agreements" between them. I'm not being a loony here, that radical left leaning liberal loony newspaper the North County Times says this things sucks and should be given the heave-ho, because it among other things does not include language requiring competitive bidding for contractor jobs with the city. Hmmmmm... an ABC lobbyist not including language like that? Had to be a mistake, right?
Confession: L called me right as the session was started needing some help so I missed the first 30 minutes because I was talking to her. Sorry, priorities.
The forum had 7 candidates: Lloyd Prosser, Mike Lucas, Chuck Lowery, Ward O'Doherty, a write-in named Dowell and Ken Crossman.
Lucas was not nearly as looney as he was 2 years ago at the last one of these I attended; he's a slippery one. His website and campaign materials seem reasonable; you have to actually interact with him to get that he's a crank. He did claim that our water supply is not safe and does not meet Federal regulations for safety because he has it tested every year and it flunks. No details though. He has a real issue with water and development; he's lived here 30+ years and this is the second time I've heard him complain that there are too many houses and people here. No comment about what he would do about that, such as, I dunno, having the City buy up houses he doesn't like or something, but he doesn't believe in water conservation "because my house was built in 1975 and when I moved here there was enough water." He also commented that he'd vote "No" on everything.
Of the remaining candidates, Dowell doesn't stand a chance as a write-in and did not say anything noteworthy anyway. Crossman doesn't have a website and had no campaign materials available so he's out. That leaves Lowrey, O'Doherty and Prosser.
Lowery first; a lifetime Oceanside resident and now a former small business owner; he sold his bakery that he'd run for decades here in town a few months ago apparently. Basically supports redevelopment without sweetheart deals to developers, supports the idea of city employees paying into CALPERS (everyone did, no differentiation there). Surprising to me he does not support a city-funded July 4 celebration "in this recession." Supports re-sanding the beaches with taxpayer money (which is how it gets done, by the way).
O'Doherty is a new-comer to the political scene. He is a former TV show producer and director and is claiming a credit for the 1996 Olympics, the Academy Awards and Golden Globes and some other stuff. I haven't been able to find anything on that so my conclusion is that he was some peon second unit guy and not a part of the primary production team. He is now a "financial advisor" - you know, one of those useless professions whose services no one really needs. He seems like a decent enough guy, very earnest and frustrated at the "closed club" that is local politics. He seemed to be in favor of the same things everyone else was. Didn't support the beach sand thing, which tells me he hasn't lived in beach towns very much. Also thought we didn't accentuate tourism enough (but apparently won't pay to rebuild the beaches every Spring, go figure).
He did get off a funny comment during the Q&A where they were all asked "Do any of you have a family member already working for the city?" His comment was "I don't have any family members working anywhere."
By the way, there was a reason for that question...
And now to Lloyd Prosser. Of all of these guys, Prosser "looks" and "acts" like a politician - very smooth, very congenial. Comes off as reasonable. A life-long Oceanside resident (sort of since he was in the USMC and retired as a Lt Col but apparently was born here and went to Oside High and has lived here since at least retirement 20 years ago) he, again, seemed to be in line with the other 2 or 3 guys I was watching. He spent 17 years as an Oceanside Utilities Commission bureaucrat and is now some sort of government "consultant" (eyeroll). But, all that bullshit notwithstanding and this in my opinion is a big negative, his wife is Vicky Prosser, who is Jack "Cement Plant" Feller's personal assistant. So, I guess if you like that guy then you'll like Lloyd Prosser. I dunno, do we really need another frickin' USMC retired officer on the City Council? Rocky was such a success for the city, after all... (that was sarcasm).
There were several other questions asked by the moderator (where they came from I don't know, they weren't audience-sourced) that were semi-stupid in their form, such as "How many of you have ever signed the front of a paycheck?" Meaning, I suppose, how many of you have ever owned a business?" But were I a clerk working at a payroll company I could say "Yes" to that question. Later they were asked if they had ever "managed" a business, which you can say "yes" to and not be the owner. So, I'll go ahead and say some dipshit at the Oside Chamber of Commerce thought that first question was "clever."
I guess the Waste Management trash and recycling contract is crappy and everyone was all over that, too.
So, we're kinda same-old same-old as far as choices go here, meaning the pool of candidates do not represent any sort of radical agenda and they are all professional looking and acting, something that was also emphasized as important for council relations. The more moderate left leaning candidates actually have more relevant experience at running businesses than the more right leaning ones (one of whom has basically spent his entire adult life sucking on the government teat either in the military or as a civilian government bureaucrat), even though that always seems to be oh so very important to the right leaning voters.
How ironic, and not in a "black fly in your chardonnay" kind of way.
A quick note about Proposition K, the charter city proposition. This thing is a stinker, but not in the concept, it is a stinker in the execution. It was written by Associated Builders and Contractors lobbyist Bill Baber with/for Jack Feller (he's not smart enough to be able to write something like that himself). It's just their little project, done in secret with who knows what kind or "agreements" between them. I'm not being a loony here, that radical left leaning liberal loony newspaper the North County Times says this things sucks and should be given the heave-ho, because it among other things does not include language requiring competitive bidding for contractor jobs with the city. Hmmmmm... an ABC lobbyist not including language like that? Had to be a mistake, right?
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Waiting
Been a rough 5 or 6 weeks and a tough week this week and I am looking forward to a little relief tomorrow and through the weekend finally.
I've signed up for 2 UCSD Extension photography classes; one a studio lighting/strobe usage class and the other a portraiture class. Probably a lot of overlap from the studio lighting class I had but I need as much background in the area of artificial lighting as I can get.
I've also upped my web presence by opening a Photoshelter account based on a suggestion from the instructor in my Business of Photography class - the same one who pronounced my work as "not ready for prime time."
Oh well.
In brighter news I had a great time at the Elvis Costello solo show in downtown San Diego the last Sunday night - Elvis, 7 or 8 guitars and almost 2 hours of music. Super-fun awesomeness!
I've signed up for 2 UCSD Extension photography classes; one a studio lighting/strobe usage class and the other a portraiture class. Probably a lot of overlap from the studio lighting class I had but I need as much background in the area of artificial lighting as I can get.
I've also upped my web presence by opening a Photoshelter account based on a suggestion from the instructor in my Business of Photography class - the same one who pronounced my work as "not ready for prime time."
Oh well.
In brighter news I had a great time at the Elvis Costello solo show in downtown San Diego the last Sunday night - Elvis, 7 or 8 guitars and almost 2 hours of music. Super-fun awesomeness!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Oceanside Traffic Plan Public Comment and Review Meeting
I went to a public comment meeting tonight regarding the update to the "Circulation Plan" which is basically the transportation plan for the city with predictions out to 2030. In case any of you are interested, the city is still acting as though the Rancho del Oro/SR78 interchange is going to be built. Also, the lady that owns the Marron Adobe down in the valley below the 78 was there. She's huge. Some guy also urged the city to work with Carlsbad to extend Cannon Rd south to connect up with ECR (?). All of the objections were voiced by local neighborhood activists.
A quick note about the traffic light at Cameo and RdO. Apparently it was put in without the proper procedures and a couple of the neighborhood activists demanded it be removed since it looks like the first tendrils of building the offramp.
By the way, I thought they were going to present the plan tonight but no, the assumption from the planners and was that everyone had already read it, which I had not, so I have to acquire it from the city and then take a look. You guys might want to, as well.
I can tell you this, though, as I mentioned RdO/78 is still on the table, widening College Blvd to 6 lanes up to Mission Ave is on the books (with an option for a 6 lane/4 lane hybrid, 6 lanes up to Olive St) but I have no idea how they're gonna do that past Oceanside Blvd to be honest, some connecting work in the north east area where the agriculture and horses are and of course the legendary I5/78 interchange improvement, something that has been on the books since the late 70's early 80's.
So basically the plan reflects a city that is still developing but didn't really plan correctly back when this part of town was still rolling hills and RdO was created as a residential street, not a throughway between 78 and 76 plus assumes that the only good transportation solutions are single occupancy single trip automobiles, which in 20 years will seem quaint, I'm sure.
I also had the "honor" of meeting Councilman Jack Feller, who in his chit chat with me let it be known he was quite unimpressed with the peoples' objections to the plan. Jerry Kern, Esther Sanchez and Jim Woods were also there.
A quick note about the traffic light at Cameo and RdO. Apparently it was put in without the proper procedures and a couple of the neighborhood activists demanded it be removed since it looks like the first tendrils of building the offramp.
By the way, I thought they were going to present the plan tonight but no, the assumption from the planners and was that everyone had already read it, which I had not, so I have to acquire it from the city and then take a look. You guys might want to, as well.
I can tell you this, though, as I mentioned RdO/78 is still on the table, widening College Blvd to 6 lanes up to Mission Ave is on the books (with an option for a 6 lane/4 lane hybrid, 6 lanes up to Olive St) but I have no idea how they're gonna do that past Oceanside Blvd to be honest, some connecting work in the north east area where the agriculture and horses are and of course the legendary I5/78 interchange improvement, something that has been on the books since the late 70's early 80's.
So basically the plan reflects a city that is still developing but didn't really plan correctly back when this part of town was still rolling hills and RdO was created as a residential street, not a throughway between 78 and 76 plus assumes that the only good transportation solutions are single occupancy single trip automobiles, which in 20 years will seem quaint, I'm sure.
I also had the "honor" of meeting Councilman Jack Feller, who in his chit chat with me let it be known he was quite unimpressed with the peoples' objections to the plan. Jerry Kern, Esther Sanchez and Jim Woods were also there.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Death Valley Road Trip and Photo Safari
Last week I went on a 4 day photo road trip with a pal from work. We had a good time and accomplished a lot of sight-seeing and photo making. But, I also came face to face with many of my limitations as a photographer. I had a lot of equipment management problems and operator errors. I've forgotten how to operate some of my lesser-used but vital on this trip accessories, such as my wireless remote shutter controller.
I have mentioned to several people that I need to sit down and literally spread out my gear on the living room floor to do an inventory. I have too much stuff these days and have forgotten what I own. AND it's spread out all over the house too.
For example, I brought two 2 MB cards. I couldn't find one of them after I got to the motel so I had to limp along with just one card, which was filled by the end of the day each day. When I got home Sunday and began the process of transferring the files to my computer I noticed I had an 8 MB card right next to the monitor. A few days later I found my other 2 MB card. I had problems with my remote control. I was messing up camera settings. Battery power was an issue.
I totally did not put 2 and 2 together that my road trip buddy had a DC to AC converter power source; I could have plugged my battery right into my charger right there in the car or even transferred files to the laptop as my single 2 MB card filled up.
I have a dedicated gear spot in my office upstairs, I should start taking that seriously.
I've decided that I need to set up an High Dynamic Range custom function on my camera and want to see if I can force it to take 5 shots instead of the stock 3 shots from AEB. Plus I have decided I need to be in Aperture Priority mode when doing it. For panoramas I need to shoot in a small f-stop especially if I want to do a vertical one. Stay away from 1600 ISO long exposure night work. My night shots need noise reduction on, so now I have to get Noise Ninja to reduce the noise I have in those images I took out there with it off.
I learned a lot on this trip, mostly about how scatterbrained I am. I need a physical checklist of my gear and I need to develop more experience and skills so that I can execute a more accurate mental checklist for each type of shot; HDR, panorama, long exposure night, whatever. I will develop some paper checklists for these different techniques and then take them out with me and work with them until I've memorized them.
This photography stuff is hard, man.
Death Valley photos
I have mentioned to several people that I need to sit down and literally spread out my gear on the living room floor to do an inventory. I have too much stuff these days and have forgotten what I own. AND it's spread out all over the house too.
For example, I brought two 2 MB cards. I couldn't find one of them after I got to the motel so I had to limp along with just one card, which was filled by the end of the day each day. When I got home Sunday and began the process of transferring the files to my computer I noticed I had an 8 MB card right next to the monitor. A few days later I found my other 2 MB card. I had problems with my remote control. I was messing up camera settings. Battery power was an issue.
I totally did not put 2 and 2 together that my road trip buddy had a DC to AC converter power source; I could have plugged my battery right into my charger right there in the car or even transferred files to the laptop as my single 2 MB card filled up.
I have a dedicated gear spot in my office upstairs, I should start taking that seriously.
I've decided that I need to set up an High Dynamic Range custom function on my camera and want to see if I can force it to take 5 shots instead of the stock 3 shots from AEB. Plus I have decided I need to be in Aperture Priority mode when doing it. For panoramas I need to shoot in a small f-stop especially if I want to do a vertical one. Stay away from 1600 ISO long exposure night work. My night shots need noise reduction on, so now I have to get Noise Ninja to reduce the noise I have in those images I took out there with it off.
I learned a lot on this trip, mostly about how scatterbrained I am. I need a physical checklist of my gear and I need to develop more experience and skills so that I can execute a more accurate mental checklist for each type of shot; HDR, panorama, long exposure night, whatever. I will develop some paper checklists for these different techniques and then take them out with me and work with them until I've memorized them.
This photography stuff is hard, man.
Death Valley photos
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Unceremoniously Dumped
I stopped into the California Surf Museum today to find out why I haven't heard from them in a while. The gal in there told me that they had a new buyer and that he was responsible for gift shop merchandise. She didn't put two and two together though. I had told her I was been selling cards there prior to the move; she wanted to know if I had any samples or business card to give the buyer (as though I was making a sales pitch to be put into the store).
She made me wait, too, she was yacking on the phone for 10 minutes while I was waiting there. During that time I examined the gift shop and realized what had happened; they only had a very small postcards area with a grand total of 6 cards, one of which wasn't even California.
Now, I suppose that their marketing plan is to be international in scope and that the name "California Surf Museum" is not meant to be a local museum or even a California oriented museum but a surf museum located here in California. So, I can accept that, but at the time I was put into the gift shop at the old location the goal was to promote local artists as well as the Museum, so I guess that has gone by the wayside.
So, my only postcard customer has dumped me and didn't even tell me.
She made me wait, too, she was yacking on the phone for 10 minutes while I was waiting there. During that time I examined the gift shop and realized what had happened; they only had a very small postcards area with a grand total of 6 cards, one of which wasn't even California.
Now, I suppose that their marketing plan is to be international in scope and that the name "California Surf Museum" is not meant to be a local museum or even a California oriented museum but a surf museum located here in California. So, I can accept that, but at the time I was put into the gift shop at the old location the goal was to promote local artists as well as the Museum, so I guess that has gone by the wayside.
So, my only postcard customer has dumped me and didn't even tell me.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Condo Living
My brother/biz partner and I own some rental properties, one of which is a condo in north Oceanside near the mission. I had put in a request for a rebuilding and remodeling of my patio cover with the architecture committee, assuming it was no big deal and I'd be approved.
I assumed wrong.
Tonight was the review of the application at the every-other-month association meeting. I was informed that my proposal to replace the large timber beam and cover the frame with 2x2s was not acceptable because the 2x2s mean that when the building was painted next the association would spend more than my fair share of paint on the wood since they (according to them) own that structure.
Which stunned the hell out of me since that part of the building is in my fenced off "backyard."
BUT
They offered a compromise. They would remove the entire wooden structure for free. We would be allowed to put an umbrella in the table or we could install a canvas awning over the slider door. So, OK, I guess we'll remove the entire thing, because I can't have the beam in place like that since it is dry-rotted. "Oh, it's our liability" I was told but I know how that goes.
But then the next order of business was the landscaping. Another couple was there (they were Russian, this is important); they were unhappy with the state of their landscaping and wanted to know what the association was going to do about it. The answer was "nothing." The place ERUPTED with people yelling at each other and saying things like "I won't shut up!" "One person at a time" and the phrase I was waiting for, "I grew up in Soviet Union, I demand democracy!"
He even threw in a reference to World War II and defeating Hitler.
Awesome, simply fucking awesome.
After everyone calmed down the 80 year old grumpy Grandpa president wanted to end the meeting but before anyone could move it or second it I jumped in and asked if that was acceptable under Roberts' and was told it was, but I stated that I thought we should finish the agenda since we were all here.
So, we did.
After the meeting ended I told the Russians to wait for me outside because I wanted to talk to them. They turned out to be very nice people and they seemed just as embarrassed about what happened as everyone else should be. I showed them my place and they showed me theirs; they have done a lot of beautiful work on the interior in the few short months they've been there. We commiserated about the state of the complex and they understood the situation a little better.
God am I glad I live in an HOA-free house.
I assumed wrong.
Tonight was the review of the application at the every-other-month association meeting. I was informed that my proposal to replace the large timber beam and cover the frame with 2x2s was not acceptable because the 2x2s mean that when the building was painted next the association would spend more than my fair share of paint on the wood since they (according to them) own that structure.
Which stunned the hell out of me since that part of the building is in my fenced off "backyard."
BUT
They offered a compromise. They would remove the entire wooden structure for free. We would be allowed to put an umbrella in the table or we could install a canvas awning over the slider door. So, OK, I guess we'll remove the entire thing, because I can't have the beam in place like that since it is dry-rotted. "Oh, it's our liability" I was told but I know how that goes.
But then the next order of business was the landscaping. Another couple was there (they were Russian, this is important); they were unhappy with the state of their landscaping and wanted to know what the association was going to do about it. The answer was "nothing." The place ERUPTED with people yelling at each other and saying things like "I won't shut up!" "One person at a time" and the phrase I was waiting for, "I grew up in Soviet Union, I demand democracy!"
He even threw in a reference to World War II and defeating Hitler.
Awesome, simply fucking awesome.
After everyone calmed down the 80 year old grumpy Grandpa president wanted to end the meeting but before anyone could move it or second it I jumped in and asked if that was acceptable under Roberts' and was told it was, but I stated that I thought we should finish the agenda since we were all here.
So, we did.
After the meeting ended I told the Russians to wait for me outside because I wanted to talk to them. They turned out to be very nice people and they seemed just as embarrassed about what happened as everyone else should be. I showed them my place and they showed me theirs; they have done a lot of beautiful work on the interior in the few short months they've been there. We commiserated about the state of the complex and they understood the situation a little better.
God am I glad I live in an HOA-free house.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Ocean Swimming
I took my parents to the San Diego Fair on Friday. I went last week with the GF but this was a belated Father's Day present. I wanted to show him the woodworking exhibit and the fine art and photography exhibits, too.
I've been swimming in the ocean the past few afternoons, too. So great to do that.
Watched the US v Brazil FIT NIT final today at a bar in Kearny Mesa. Fun time, good first half for the US, bad second half. 3-2 Brazil final score.
I've been swimming in the ocean the past few afternoons, too. So great to do that.
Watched the US v Brazil FIT NIT final today at a bar in Kearny Mesa. Fun time, good first half for the US, bad second half. 3-2 Brazil final score.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Vegas and SD Fair
Went to Vegas for a few days 2 weeks ago for my birthday present. We had a great time. The weather was comfortable; cloudy and warm. It even rained a bit one of the days. Vegas is hurting; even though we were there Sunday through Wednesday the crowds were still exceptionally small. The cabbies asked us if we wanted to ride down the Strip or take the side streets - that's never happened before. Restaurants were 2/3 full, we bought tickets for Cirque du Soleil's "Ka" 24 hours before the show time and landed 4th row center seats. The pool was practically empty and one night we had the entire outdoor patio of the East Side Lounge to ourselves.
I had two photos accepted into the SD Fair this year out of 4 submitted but while the percentage was disappointing the results weren't; both images received "Honorable Mention" awards. We went this last weekend and had beer and brats, walked the fine art and the photography exhibits, she bought some jewelry and we walked the Halls of Crap, too.
I had two photos accepted into the SD Fair this year out of 4 submitted but while the percentage was disappointing the results weren't; both images received "Honorable Mention" awards. We went this last weekend and had beer and brats, walked the fine art and the photography exhibits, she bought some jewelry and we walked the Halls of Crap, too.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Fair Photos and Vegas Getaway
This year I again entered some of my photographic work in the San Diego and Orange County Fairs. This one was accepted in both fairs' competitions, while this one was accepted in the San Diego Fair but rejected by the Orange County Fair.
I also went to Las Vegas last week for a few days as a birthday present. Vegas is dead; lots of empty restaurant tables, empty lounges by the pool and the cabbies would ask us if we wanted to take the Strip or the side roads (in the past the side roads were the only choice due to all the traffic on las Vegas Blvd.).
The guys came over yesterday for a band rehearsal to prep for later this summer's party.
I also went to Las Vegas last week for a few days as a birthday present. Vegas is dead; lots of empty restaurant tables, empty lounges by the pool and the cabbies would ask us if we wanted to take the Strip or the side roads (in the past the side roads were the only choice due to all the traffic on las Vegas Blvd.).
The guys came over yesterday for a band rehearsal to prep for later this summer's party.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
New York City April, 2009
I spent a short but really fun week in New York Ciy last week. Gargoyles, Guggenheim and Gramercy, oh my!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
I went to Shenzhen, Guangdong, PRC and Hong Kong last week for business. Shenzhen is across the harbo(u)r from Hong Kong. It is possible to land at Hong Kong International Airport but never enter Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; you can go straight to the regular PRC via a ferry and then go through passport control into China when you dock.
That's what I did. It's about 2 hours from landing the plane to getting to the hotel.
Coming back I had a driver take from my hotel in Shenzhen to my hotel in Hong Kong via his car; we had to go through a big-ass passport control area prior to driving across Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor bridge back into HK.
My outbound itinerary was SAN to SFO to HKG, ferry to Shenzhen. Return was HKG to SFO to SAN. SFO to HKG was about 14, 14.5 hours. Return tip was around 11, 11.5 hours.
Hong Kong still uses its own currency, the Hong Kong dollar, official exchange rate 1.05 to 1 RMB. Shenzhen is in an economic development zone; 15 years ago it was a tiny fishing village. Now it is a huge city with all the hallmarks of fast money and a bubble economy and infrastructure. I visited a factory that manufactures my company's products; it is out behind the glitz of boomtown Shenzhen. In fact it is what we would call a "company town" from the turn of the last century. The company site is literally miles of 10 story tall buildings full of Chinese workers making our stuff. They live in dorms and eat and shop on the company property.
The engineers I worked with were mid-20's maybe and the workers on the line, many of whom are women, had an average age of 18 or 19. It was a fascinating glimpse into how our economy (meaning the US for me personally but really it's any Western country at this point) and China are inextricably linked.
A headline in the South China Daily one morning was "Finance Minister still buying Treasury bonds."
And now here are some photos.
I also went out to Anza Borrego Desert State Park a few weekends ago and took some night sky photos.
That's what I did. It's about 2 hours from landing the plane to getting to the hotel.
Coming back I had a driver take from my hotel in Shenzhen to my hotel in Hong Kong via his car; we had to go through a big-ass passport control area prior to driving across Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor bridge back into HK.
My outbound itinerary was SAN to SFO to HKG, ferry to Shenzhen. Return was HKG to SFO to SAN. SFO to HKG was about 14, 14.5 hours. Return tip was around 11, 11.5 hours.
Hong Kong still uses its own currency, the Hong Kong dollar, official exchange rate 1.05 to 1 RMB. Shenzhen is in an economic development zone; 15 years ago it was a tiny fishing village. Now it is a huge city with all the hallmarks of fast money and a bubble economy and infrastructure. I visited a factory that manufactures my company's products; it is out behind the glitz of boomtown Shenzhen. In fact it is what we would call a "company town" from the turn of the last century. The company site is literally miles of 10 story tall buildings full of Chinese workers making our stuff. They live in dorms and eat and shop on the company property.
The engineers I worked with were mid-20's maybe and the workers on the line, many of whom are women, had an average age of 18 or 19. It was a fascinating glimpse into how our economy (meaning the US for me personally but really it's any Western country at this point) and China are inextricably linked.
A headline in the South China Daily one morning was "Finance Minister still buying Treasury bonds."
And now here are some photos.
I also went out to Anza Borrego Desert State Park a few weekends ago and took some night sky photos.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
New Year
One month into the new year and only a few things to report.
I went to Santa Barbara between Christmas and New Year's, which was really fun. I spent a day driving around the local Wine Country and went to Solvang for lunch. The Hitching Post was closed, though; they're open or dinner only.
I also caught up with a Rome friend in LA who had come over for a quick 10 day Southwest US road trip.
I continue to work on music and songs in the little recording studio I have and making great progress. It's great to have such talented friends come over and play on my stuff.
I am collecting and shooting images to enter into the San Diego Natural History Museum photography contest also. The last day to enter is March 15. A few weekends ago I shot a bunch of images down at the pier, some of which are decent.
I went to Santa Barbara between Christmas and New Year's, which was really fun. I spent a day driving around the local Wine Country and went to Solvang for lunch. The Hitching Post was closed, though; they're open or dinner only.
I also caught up with a Rome friend in LA who had come over for a quick 10 day Southwest US road trip.
I continue to work on music and songs in the little recording studio I have and making great progress. It's great to have such talented friends come over and play on my stuff.
I am collecting and shooting images to enter into the San Diego Natural History Museum photography contest also. The last day to enter is March 15. A few weekends ago I shot a bunch of images down at the pier, some of which are decent.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Tokyo and Thanksgiving
I went to Tokyo for a short and uneventful week about a month ago. Our flight was about 5 hours late and so we arrived at the hotel sometime after midnight, which really wasn't all that bad. I did get to visit Kawasaki Daishi temple one afternoon, which was quite beautiful and also quite empty. The monks were there and one of them was pounding slowly on a huge drum. It sounded great, echoing around inside the temple and then out into the courtyard. It was very late afternoon, though, so there wasn't much light butr I did manage to take a few photos regardless.
Thanksgiving was fun and we all had a great time. I didn't do anything "different" this year regarding turkey cooking; we just had roasted turkey breast; all meat, no bone, super moist an very very good.
Thanksgiving was fun and we all had a great time. I didn't do anything "different" this year regarding turkey cooking; we just had roasted turkey breast; all meat, no bone, super moist an very very good.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Rome Trip
Summer was uneventful. I worked a lot and completed the latest house project - a new and much larger balcony a patio cover. I threw a summer party for my Italian friends which was fun - the band played in the living room for an hour or so. I worked on some new songs - wrote, arranged and recorded them. I need some guitar work from Erik and some keyboard work from Jeff to finish them.
I went to Rome for a week or so and returned a week ago. Photos are here. The next day I went to Las Vegas for a few days.
Going to Japan in a few weeks for a shortish week.
I went to Rome for a week or so and returned a week ago. Photos are here. The next day I went to Las Vegas for a few days.
Going to Japan in a few weeks for a shortish week.
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