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plumwin at gmail dot com
dogs love mcdonalds at 6:20 pm
As a marketing expert, I give you: product placement:
Colonial Post Office - BEWARE at 8:59 am
We�ve noticed in the past few months that are mail at home has been sketchy. We�ve never had a problem before this and just chocked it up to the holiday season. Lately, a few things seem to be missing that have caught us off guard. This month�s garbage bill had a past due amount from December and since I diligently pay the bills each month; I knew that meant that we didn�t receive last month�s statement. We�ve also had a few people ask if we received various holiday cards that never showed up. This month we also had a few instances where we arrived home to find no mail. Considering the slew of junk mail we get between the two of us, that is almost impossible. This past Monday we received no mail for the fourth time this month so we decided to call the post office. The staff at Colonial supposedly checked our address and assured us that all was well. On Tuesday when I got home from work I could see our overflowing mailbox as soon as I pulled into the driveway. It was stuffed to the brim with about two weeks worth of mail. Some of it was postmarked in early January. Our initial thought was that our call the previous day made someone alert the carrier that he couldn�t sit in his truck all day and needed to start delivering the mail. We called back and told them there was no way this was one day�s worth of mail and they said they�d check with the carrier and make sure everything was ok. Yesterday was the last straw. We put outgoing mail in the box and left for most of the day. Upon return in the late afternoon, it was still sitting there. I called Colonial again and talked to the most unhelpful, unapologetic woman possible. I was very polite in asking what the problem was, as it seems to be ongoing and needs to be addressed. After putting me on hold for some time, she came back and informed me that they are short carriers in my neighborhood and have been using substitutes a few times a week. If the subs can�t get to everyone in those routes by a particular time (2pm) then you just don�t get your mail. What? I was stunned. So no one was picking up my outgoing mail or delivering my incoming mail today? Nope, too bad. I told her that this was an unacceptable answer and furthermore, where is my mail going when it�s not delivered? She couldn�t give me a straight answer but I assume it just sits in the truck until the next day. Considering all we hear about identity theft, we do our best to be safe and shred documents, etc. Why should we bother if our personal mail is sitting in a truck god knows where for days on end until someone has a chance to deliver it? Plus, the outgoing mail is an issue too as there isn�t too many of those blue boxes around town anymore so we rely on this service as well. I called the main UPSP number to ask if this was standard procedure and they were very apologetic but said there�s not much they can do about it. If our local post office is short carriers, you are not guaranteed mail everyday and where it sits is a mystery to them as well. If Colonial services your neighborhood, you need to keep a close eye on your mail. In my opinion, it is another government agency that is getting away with not doing its job and not letting the consumer know why. It�s shameful.
Post Office - Colonial
6024 44th ST
Sacramento, CA 95824-9998 Phone:(916)262-3128
Toll-free: (800)ASK-USPS
Fax:(916)422-4625
home show madness at 3:29 pm
Today we took a trip out to the Home Show. I�d never been and someone gave us tickets so we figured we�d take a stroll around and see what project we could take on next. I had no idea what it would be like but I certainly wasn�t expected to see another event that just makes the locals look bad. It was as bad as the State Fair in regards to the visitors and behaviors. I should have known that since the tickets were only $7 (cheap, cheap) there would be a whole group of folks that viewed the event as an inexpensive way to kill some time on a Saturday. Plus, kids got in free, which just created another whole group of people that saw the opportunity for a cheap way to entertain their children. Don�t get me wrong, I love kids, but there are certain places that they just don�t need to be and probably would be happier if their parents realized this. At least 75% of the crowd had strollers, which made navigating through the displays a nightmare. Did someone really think that a 3 year old would want to look at ceramic tile for the new kitchen or that a 3 month old would want to be carried through a giant crowd of people in a hot, stuffy exposition hall? We were also one of only a handful of people who weren�t stuffing our faces with kettle corn. What is the big deal? You can get the stuff everywhere now. You can even pop it in your own microwave. That�s a trend that I�m just hoping will pass soon. Mr. Plumwin even commented on the �motley crowd� and his surprise that it was this type of crowd. What did we envision? We thought it would be homeowners looking for new and exciting things for their homes. Unfortunately, it consisted of yahoos yakking on their cell phones and looking for the next fried food stand. Oh, and the diaper changing station.
dental damn at 10:50 am
I�ve gone to the same midtown dentist for about eight years, originally on the recommendation of a co-worker. His office has always been of the upscale variety, sometimes bordering on snobbish. I love the dentist and his office is four blocks from my office so I never minded the pretentious �feel� of the place. Yesterday, in for my six-month cleaning, I noticed a strange number of things. First off, Sesame Street books and Trailer Life had replaced the magazines, which used to consist of your standard Time and Business Week along with a sprinkling of Gourmet and Architectural Digest. Yes, Trailer Life.
My first thought was that it was like a People Magazine for a certain breed of folk but it is actually about trailers and traveling in your trailer. Oh joy. While I pondered my decision whether to just sit still or actually flip through one of these things, I noticed the next inconsistency in the office. There is a beautiful fish tank on a table with all sorts of exotic plants in it and two really colorful fish. Both fish were floating on the top and obviously dead. I stared at them for a bit to make sure I was right and lo and behold, floaters. When the hygienist called my name I thought about mentioning the fish or asking about the magazine selection but before I could she exclaimed, �Did you notice our new look in the office? We just hired a new decorator.�
tasty tuesday at 9:48 am
While walking up J towards Office Max, a homeless man asked the well-suited guy in front of me for change. The guy opens up his briefcase and produces three bags of airline peanuts and hands them over. Another reason to save those peanuts.
On the same walk I noticed that Taki has a new sign out front proclaiming: WE OPEN! Enough said.
This morning on K & 29th I saw a grown man riding a tricycle in traffic. I kid you not.
This would be much funnier if I were a cab driver in New York.
latest sac blight at 10:21 am
Although the Sac Rag gave positive feedback on Mr. Pickles as a new place to try, I had no idea that they would literally be popping up all over Sacramento so quickly. After an afternoon viewing of Brokeback Mountain on Saturday, a friend and I popped over to 33rd Street Bistro that is one of my favorites for lunch. As I sipped my wine on the patio, I was appalled to see a Mr. Pickles had cropped up across the street. I�m sorry but that sign and that logo look like they were designed by a five year old. I�m all for new franchises hitting the area, but there are certain places they don�t belong and this is one of them. That section of Folsom Boulevard has that quaint, old-fashioned style that those of us who live in downtown or East Sac appreciate and we certainly don�t want a Mr. Pickles smack in the middle of it. I won�t be surprised if the next time I swing by Sellands on H on my way home, I�ll find a Macaroni Grill.
mr. bubble at 3:57 pm
This fountain on M Street has annoyed me for some time. I know some folks like it and it is pretty and all but I want to know who paid for it. Was it the city? If so, that sucks. I mean go a few blocks over and we have potholes the size of me. Unfair. Today I noticed that it has a new look, probably compliments of the great TP'ing kids from a few weeks back.
As an aside, this totally reminds me of when my friend and I put bubble bath in our jacuzzi when I was a kid. Well, not so much as in that instance my dad sent my friend home, gave me a lecture, and then made me stand outside with him while he drained, cleaned and refilled the thing. Oh, and for punishment I wasn�t allowed in the pool or the jacuzzi for a week.
The great TP'ers of '06.
i was made for dancing at 3:27 pm
Since it is my birthday week (yes I celebrate a whole week, why one day?) I�m going to go ahead and date myself by saying there was a time when Leif Garrett rocked my world. Not as hard as Shaun Cassidy or even this hunk but he did. It�s sad to see Leif now. I mean I thought he�d be the one to break the mold of celebrity losers and go on to do wonderful, brilliant things. I imagined him feeding the poor, helping the elderly, and giving us, his listening audience, hundreds of songs to remember. But no, drugs caught up with poor Leif and he pretty much disappeared after the car accident only to return now, in 2006, in court in real life and playing a janitor on TV.
Per People Mag:
�Garrett is due at a hearing in this new case on Wednesday. His most recent role was in last year's movie Pop Star, in which he played a janitor.�
DISCLAIMER: I should have mentioned that I was SEVEN when Leif hit the charts with this. I didn't mean to date myself that much. I don't even know who the Bay City Rollers are in fact!
Roseville makes a great impression at 9:55 am
I lived in Roseville when I first moved here and knew within a year that I had to get out. I worked in midtown and if the commute didn�t kill me, my fellow Roseville inhabitants would. I try not to bash on Sacramento as a whole, but Roseville is another beast entirely. I spent enough time with those well manicured, SUV driving, kid toting, self-righteous folk long enough. Although I�ve been out of the Roseville �scene� for years now, I see things haven�t changed much in their attitudes in general as pointed out by this little bit in the Bee this morning.
By Tony Bizjak -- Bee Staff Writer
A reader from Roseville who drinks two glasses of wine nightly with dinner complains there is no way for a person to know if he is over the legal 0.08 percent blood-alcohol limit.
One evening while driving his wife and kids to a movie, he got waved into a sobriety checkpoint. An officer asked if he had had anything to drink. "How do I answer that question?" our reader asks. In order to be waved through, he writes, "I had to lie ... and my kids in the back seat think that I am a liar, thereby setting a bad example." CHP spokesman Tom Marshall responds that people who drink any alcohol should think twice about driving in the first place. "If you're concerned, you should err on the side of caution and assume you have had too much."He acknowledges the reader has a legitimate question about the uncertainty of the 0.08 level. There are charts that suggest how much a person can drink and still be under the limit. But, "it's a moving target," Marshall said, depending on body size, whether you've eaten and other factors. Marshall had some frank advice for our reader: "He shouldn't just worry about lying; he ought to worry about the fact he's leaving the impression with his kids that it is OK to drink and drive."This (to me) is such a typical Roseville �type� attitude. Dear reader, what about the officer�s question did you not understand? It was a yes or no question. You had two glasses of wine so your answer should have been �yes�. If the officer pulled you out for a sobriety check, too bad. I�m disgusted (in an I�m laughing in your face type of way) that you think lying to an officer in front of your kids is a more serious offense than drinking and then driving them to the movies. One word: moron. We don�t do that kind of stuff downtown. No way. Everything is right here where we need it so we can walk to venues or if we need them, there are cabs.
etiquette, people, etiquette at 3:39 pm
Open letter to the crazy, mumbling, singing guy behind me in Bel Air just now: It is completely unacceptable to sidle up to me and my full cart of groceries with your one can of frozen OJ and start mumbling about how I should let you go ahead of me. The store was packed. Every line was long and I had already waited about fifteen minutes myself. Your continual mumbling about how insensitive I was and your disbelief in my actions were noticed. Yes, I was aware of you when you were literally touching me as I swiped my ATM and had to bump you a bit so I could get some of my space back. There are basic rules in life�s little situations. When you�re in a line of traffic that is stopped and someone is trying to pull out, you let one car go in front of you. Not five, but one. When you are buying one item at the grocery store, you have to use the Express Lane (two were open by the way) and not just jump behind everyone with full carts in the normal line and expect us to let you go first. You didn�t intimidate me in the slightest and finishing your diatribe at my car obviously proved my point when the clerk asked you to never come back.
jewish mom at 10:10 am
If my mother even sees this headline touting why Jewish Mothers are so important it will be the death of me. I guarantee you there will be a message on my answering machine when I get home from work today.