Autumn 2009

Officially arrived today at 2:18pm PDT. And we reached triple digit temps here in the Sacramento Valley.

Hot August Nights

August is around the corner, and we've already experienced a string of 100+ degree temps. However, we will be kicking off the month with high temps in the 80s. Woohoo!

Makes riding under all that protective motorcycle gear a hella more tolerable. The cool delta breezes that come up the Sacramento River from the bay in the evening also helps tremendously.

Hell

The temps in the area have hit triple digits over the past couple of days (and possibly will for the next couple)... but another cooldown is forecast for the weekend.

Yeah, this week's been hell.

State of the State

Downhill spiral. 'Nuff said.

Downtown Sacramento

This is the heart of the city that is the capital of California, where politicians throughout the state convene to conduct their business. This is where you will find the greatest concentration of state offices and state workers. The Westfield Downtown Plaza is an open air mall which is host to many shops and restaurants, as is the K Street Mall which extends eastward from 7th Street (across from the Downtown Plaza).

Sacramento's newly elected mayor is a local product who had made a name for himself as a professional basketball player in the NBA. Kevin Johnson has an uphill battle in trying to revitalize the downtown economy by encouraging new development and improvements to the area. Still, downtown businesses depend heavily on the dollars that are spent by the state workers.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger just imposed a mandatory two-days-per-month unpaid furlough (appx 10% pay cut) on state employees, with a few exceptions, and possibly layoffs. During times of belt-tightening, the food budget is often the one that's slashed and will have employees brown-bagging it to work.

This just in from our local news station (KXTV News10): the downtown establishments draw appx 90% of their weekly business from state workers.

So much for revitalization. The opposite will probably happen, where businesses will fold up shop and the area will become merely a ghost of its former self. These shop owners and restaurateurs, as well as all their employees, are consumers too... without jobs they will need to curtail their spending, and could soon turn into a domino effect.

This is not the way to stimulate the economy.

Water U Waiting 4?

For SoCal, they're waiting for more water. In another anticipated drought year, there'll be a water grab yet again, water which is diverted from the mighty Sacramento River... the water from the snowmelt in our (yes, I said our) Sierra mountains that fills the river flowing out to the Delta.

Yup, it takes plenty of water to fill those swimming pools, wash those fancy wheels and keep the fairways green. And yup, I'm somewhat jealous about keeping our water in our region instead of having it abused in an overpopulated desert.

Riding in the Rain

I'm riding in the rain, just riding in the rain... what a glorious feelin', I'm happy again!

The rains came. Last Friday. Except for he break we had on Sunday (which brought mostly blue skies and sunshine) our weather forecasters have been spot on regarding the precip that's descended on our region. I took light rail to and from work for the first time since the skies went dry last spring, and wouldn't you know, my train goes kaput to start off my weekend. Thankfully the outage only lasted about 20 minutes.

Wow, it just dumped cats and dogs outside as I continue to type.

Tomorrow morning the storms should be history and I can resume my two-wheeled commuting again. I was just thinking about the many times I've been caught riding in the rain... caught, I say, since I rarely consider heading out when the wet stuff threatens to fall. It's one thing to be rained on while close to home, and a whole 'nuther story when stuck hundreds of miles away. How far is far?

Portland, OR
Spokane, WA
Eureka, MT
Aspen and Vail, CO
Salt Lake City, UT
Flagstaff, AZ
the northern CA coast
the Sierra Nevadas

My friend wrote to say that he got caught riding in the rain on his commute home Thursday evening (whereas I caught only a few droplets). Not being a seasoned rider, his comment was that it was scary. Regardless of experience, it is scary having to share the roadways with idiots in urban traffic; I'd rather take my chances on the open road, hundreds of miles from home.

Local Politics

Our local politicians proposed a tax for Sacramento County to put 50-60 new police officers on the payroll to deal with gang activity. Got shot down. A later proposal sought to accomplish this within the city of Sacramento, hiking only the city tax and not the county tax. Strike two.

Yesterday, our officers have been tasked to begin cracking down on jaywalkers in South Sacramento. Hmm, how 'bout we create an anti-gang unit from these existing officers who are all too eager to protect and serve?