Enough With the Roundabouts

I drove to a friends house in Castaic yesterday who lives off Hasley Canyon Drive.  I was not particularly happy to end up in a roundabout.  Seriously? A roundabout off the 5 at Hasley Canyon.  Why?  Why not just have a regular old intersection?

The thing with a roundabout is that you kind of have to be used to using it.  Merging in and out of them can be tricky if you are in a full size SUV with less than the best visibility.  I mean whoever came up with this idea must have also had a hand in taking away the left turn into the post office off McBean and forcing us to make a U-turn, taking away a lane on Decoro and adding a bike lane and let’s not forget back in parking in old town Newhall.

I mean seriously, what are these guys smoking? How much more will it cost to take away the roundabout after they realize it was a dumb idea? Ummm excuse me traffic people, can you stop trying to change things up and just make it better please.  A simple intersection with a long left turn lane and arrow is nice.  Is that asking too much?

Happy Spring

The weather could not be better and today is the first day of spring. You know what that means, spring cleaning time.  Make some time to clean up your home on the inside and OUT.  There are a few sales going on right now at Home Depot and Lowes where you can get some spring flowers for very cheap (I think like 3 for $1 at Home Depot this week).  Times are tough I know, but that doesn’t mean you can’t  have a tidy lawn.  I mean especially if you have teenage kids, there is NO excuse for your lawn to look like this.

This particular home is in a very prestigious part of town and is valued at around 1million dollars.  True it’s much less then it was 3 years ago, but still.  This is basically a million dollar home and this is the ONLY patch of lawn and these people can’t even mow it. Give me a break.  Every home on the street has beautifully manicured lawns and then they have to look at this.  You could trim this with scissors it’s so small.

So don’t be “that” house.  Spend some time and have some pride in your home and your neighborhood.  Small things you can do will add value to your already depreciated house.  Don’t make it worse by letting everything go to hell.

Burrtec Waste is currently offering a free bulky item pick up.  Please check their website or call them for information on what they pick up and when (661) 222-2249.

Reusable Grocery Bags

I finally did it.  After seeing these bags everywhere and never really wanting to own one, I bit the bullet and bought a couple today.  I am not an environmentalist or treehugger or whatever.  I guess for the longest time I always associated these types of bags with people that eat lots of Granola.  Well, now I am one too(minus the Granola). 

I feel bad asking the baggers at the market to use them.  I know they are clumsy and it’s much easier for them to just fill the plastic bags, but oh well, everyone else is doing it!  So there you go, I’m trying to be a little more green.  These actually hold what would’ve gone into five plastic bags so I guess over time that’ll make a difference.

Not only that, but I’ve been hearing that law makers are throwing around the idea of charging .25 per bag.  That’s about $125.00 a year for these things that are falling out of my kitchen drawer.  So anyway, I hope I encourage at least a few of you to join me in being green.  It feels pretty good so far.

Garage Door Moment

A couple days ago my garage door stopped working.  It would barely move then retract as if something was in the way when I pushed the button.  I contacted the company Lift Master through their online service and explained what I “thought” the problem was. I thought the sensors weren’t working because one lit yellow and one lit green (but flickered). They responded today with a fairly long email of troubleshooting which didn’t work.  So I got online to try and find a repairman and found one in Northridge.  I normally will always go local, but I just couldn’t find any one in the SCV through Google. I called this garage door repair company American Gates and Doors 1-888-800-1819 and the guy on the phone offered to save me some money and he walked me threw the step to fix it for ‘FREE’ over the phone.

Like I said I normally always go local, but this guy was so kind to save me from having to pay him to come up to the SCV. 

How did I fix it? He told me to jiggle the sensor that was dim until it was a solid light again.  Took about 10 seconds.  Why didn’t LiftMaster tell me that? I have no idea. 

Sweet – A Rainbow

The good thing about rain is that sometimes it brings a rainbow with just the right amount of sun.  In this case it doubled up.  If you look on the top right corner of the picture it’s a double rainbow.  Don’t see those too often. 

Rainbow over Santa Clarita, CA.

In case you ever wondered where the “end of the rainbow” is. Today it appears to be somewhere around Central Park.

Surviving the Recession in the SCV

So we all know it’s happening.  Some people are feeling it worse than others.  It’s likely we all know someone that has been impacted by the down turn in the economy either by losing a job or a home.  That said, here are some tips to saving money in the SCV.

Shopping

• Plan your shopping trip.  The valley has many stores that are offering good deals, you just need to know about them. 
• Research your favorite stores online and sign up for their rewards program if they have one.  Stores like the Gap, for example offers 20% off on the first Tuesday of each month if you have a Gap card.  New York & Co is another one that sends you great coupons and rewards you if you use their credit card.  Macy’s is another that always has coupons in the paper for you to use.  If you have kids that like to shop at Active, you must check out their online store.  They offer deals every Wednesday and occasionally will give you 20% off your entire purchase.  It’s likely that your favorite store has some sort of rewards program or customer appreciation offer. 
• If the store offers a credit card consider taking advantage of the deals that come with being a card holder.  JUST MAKE SURE YOU PAY IT OFF EACH MONTH.  One example is Target.  If you have a Target card and use it, they will send you a 10% off coupon each month which is good for an entire day of shopping at Target.
• In this economy all the stores are competing for your business, so plan ahead and know where you can get the best deal.

Random Voluntary Drug Testing

I just got this message from the William S Hart School District.

Did you know that alcohol and drug related suspensions and expulsions in the Hart School District have doubled since 2003? The Hart district is proud to offer parents and students a program to deal with the issue of alcohol and drug use. Our new Comprehensive Alcohol and Drug Reduction and Education program includes random student drug testing on a voluntary basis as well as drug awareness education and counseling information. You are invited to learn more about this program at a special parent information meeting in the library at Rancho Pico Junior High on Feb. 25 or in the multi-purpose room at La Mesa Junior High School on March 3. Both meetings are at 7 p.m.

Excuse me, but how the hell do you do “Voluntary” Random Drug Testing? How about just Random drug testing?  LAME

I would love for someone to have the balls to enforce random drug testing. At least for atheletes.  It’s likely the rate of suspensions would decrease.