Grey Area

the family guy parodies A-HA

for those of you who grew up in the 80's, this is great.

posted by Evan @ 12:33 PM 0 comments

i drive a piece of crap because...

i have to.

in the last 2 days, my car has been "dinged" twice. what is going on??? when i was in Santa Ana last night, i went to get gas. i went over to the pay phone and called home while the car was filling up. when i came back to the car, this idiot who pulled into the pump in front of my car pulled all the way up and hit my front bumper and parked there. he didn't even back up once he hit it! he just parked there!

this morning, i'm sitting in my car in the Cal Poly parking lot eating my breakfast killing some time before class and another faculty member pulls in next to me. when she opens her door, it slams my car. i thought something fell out of the sky and hit my roof. her door didn't just tap my car - it smacked it!

if i was driving my porsche - and you know why i'm not - i would've had 2 insurance claims in 2 days, just after getting the roof stolen a week and a half ago. that would be 3 claims in October.

so i drive my piece of crap subaru legacy now not out of economy - but because the other drivers out there suck! it already has a bunch of dents and scratches so it doesn't really matter to me anyhow, but come on people! have some courtesy.

posted by Evan @ 9:57 AM 0 comments

i hate...

traffic.

2 hours to get to Santa Ana, 9 hours at work, 2 hours to get home. blech.

posted by Evan @ 10:26 PM 0 comments

city grid

on the way to work today i was thinking about how our city is laid out in a grid pattern, and what makes that grid of streets deviate from the pattern. there are two things that make the deviation occur.

first, there is the natural occurrence where the street must curve to make way for a stream bed, hill, etc. this happens in a few places in our city - Red Hill is one place where Carnelian curves around the hill between Foothill and Baseline.

second, there is the previously built occurrence. obviously there comes a time when a new street must be built and go through an area where homes or buildings already exist. this is an occurrence that happens around the Victoria Gardens mall and many other new developments in our area, including the recent construction of the 210 freeway.

lots of cities are laid out in grids, like Los Angeles for example. on the other hand, there are many cities that are not laid out in grid patterns, like Paris. Paris is laid out by using landmarks and axes. main thoroughfares bridge between two landmarks and the smaller street go off of those. so there would be a main street between the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. Here's a map to illustrate.

the interesting thing is when these occurrences happen, and the new road supersedes the previously built building. there are several times where the city has moved the building to make way for the new road. one house that was moved is a famous carpenters house. Sam Maloof was the carpenter, and they paid him $2 million plus the cost of relocating his house to the top of Carnelian Street. Sam has his hand-made rocking chairs in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C.

the next time you are driving around our city, look to see why the roads deviate from the grid. i hope my house needs to be moved someday. not likely.

posted by Evan @ 11:22 PM 0 comments

fog

i know we're all used to the smog, but the fog is something that definitely tells me autumn is here. driving in it is a bit scary, but i like it.

posted by Evan @ 8:24 AM 2 comments

your targa top

hey evan,

this is ken. i just wanted to drop you a note. it's pretty funny how easy it was to get the targa top. me and my friends had a good laugh. "I really screwed him," i told them. man, at first, i just wanted to get the top for my car, and then i saw how much they were. so i found you and thought - this guy trusts me. ha! i showed you! dumbass! so now it's raining and you can't even take the car outside! hehe.

it's no big deal really. you're just going to have to pay $500 for your insurance deductible and you'll get a new one. look at it this way - just raise the price you were asking for the car by $500. hell - raise it by $1,000! see ya, sucker!

posted by Evan @ 11:25 AM 2 comments

what's in a name?

Mercury has a new SUV called Mariner. I was sitting behind one in the Taco Bell drive thru. I was wondering what that name means. Why is that the name that gets put on the back of an SUV? What does this piece of "automotive genius" have to do with navigating a ship? i would agree that to some extent, it's a boat, but come on... really now...

mar·i·ner
One who navigates or assists in navigating a ship.

it leads to the question, where do marketing people come up with this crap? is this the first title they came up with, or the thousandth?

they also have the Aviator - a larger version of the Mariner. another beast on the road if you ask me.

i like the way the europeans name most automobiles - alphanumerically. Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Audi, Daimler, and Aston Martin all do this. it just makes more sense to me - they are named for different reasons in all manufacturers, but they are all done for a reason - to keep track of the model names of the cars. BMW uses 3 series, 5 series, 6 series and 7 series. Audi uses A3, A4, A5 and A8.

I guess the thing I like the most is that it doesn't have to do with a trend in vocabulary that attracts buyers like Explorer, Excursion and Mariner and Aviator. It's not attractive - it's pathetic marketing buzzwords.

posted by Evan @ 10:16 PM 0 comments

stop! thief!

yesterday was a bad day. as you might know, my 1987 Porsche 911 is for sale. two people came to look at the car yesterday. i washed the car after the rain but before anyone came to see the car.

the first guy, Troy, came from Riverside where he works. he lives in Hunter's Ridge in north Fontana. I started up the car for him and he just looked from a distance and never touched the car. he's owned several Porsche's before, so he knew what to look for. he said he had to sell his Harley motorcycle first, but that he might be calling me. his visit was 10 minutes long, tops.

the second guy, "Ken," came from Redondo Beach. he wanted to see how the top worked (it's removable). i took it off, and then put it in the trunk, which is in the front of this car. we went for a test drive. i drove, he was the passenger. he didn't want to drive it - he wanted to feel the car i guess. he made me an offer and i accepted it. he asked where the nearest Bank of America is so that he could go get a deposit and bring the rest of the money to me the next day.

i drove the car back to my house and he said he wanted to walk around the car and check it out. i had mentioned earlier that i have all of the service records for the car, and he asked me if he could see them. service records are very valuable for this car - they tell a complete history over the past three owners.

i went inside to get them off the counter. i went back outside and "Ken" was gone. his mazda B2000 white extra cab pickup truck was gone too. and my targa top from my car was gone as well. i shut the trunk and took off looking for him.

my heart was pounding thinking this didn't just happen. he went to the bank to get the deposit right? this couldn't have happened right? i drove down the 210 westbound and it was packed. there was no way i was going to find him.

i went home and told Rita what happened. we were in shock.

we immediately called the police to make a report. an officer showed up in about 10 minutes. i told him what happened and he got his kit out to take fingerprints. then he got a call and had to go help a lady that was having a heart attack.

we called dispatch again and they sent another officer out. i drove the car to my mother-in-laws house so i could put it in a the garage for a while. it looked like it was going to rain some more. when i got there, i called rita to see where the officer was. she had just gotten to my house - dispatch didn't tell her the new address. so Rita told her, and then she left to meet me. after about 30 minutes, Rita showed up and said the officer had pulled someone over on her way down. she had cones set out and everything.

20 more minutes went by and she finally showed up. she then fingerprinted the car - and did a horrible job doing it. she got her little duster out and the black fingerprint dust. she dusted the car in a few parts where it was obvious there were prints - we just don't know if they were mine or his. she then lays tape down on them and peels it off and sticks it onto cards. the thing is that when she did the tape she kept accidentally sticking it to the car and peeling it off and then re-sticking it. it was a mess. i think nothing will come from the fingerprints they took. and even if they do, what are the chances this guy's prints are on file? highly unlikely.

i looked online at a porsche parts company. they have a targa top for an '87 porsche 911 listed for $13,595.95. i only had the car listed for $16,500. what a scam.

so we have a call out to the insurance company and the detectives. what a day.





more pictures to follow.

posted by Evan @ 11:04 AM 0 comments

Rancho's obsession with center dividers and used brick

What's the deal with with this? Why must they tear up every street in the city for months at a time to put in a center divider? here's the problem with these street dividers:

1. I can't make left turns where i want to. i have to make them where they want me to, which ultimately leads to unsafe u-turns.

2. my tax dollars are paying for this crap.

3. my tax dollars are paying for this crap. (i know i'm repeating myself)

4. my tax dollars are paying for weekly landscaping and more lane closures.

5. my tax dollars are paying the watering bill for this crap.

As for used brick - it sucks. not only does it look really bad, but it looks fake and stupid. they aren't really used bricks! there aren't enough used bricks in the world for all the used brick my city wants.

so-called "used brick" is made by tumbling new brick with black and white paint. it's actually described as "quaint" and "charming" in this article. i can't believe there is a market for this stuff. well, like i said earlier in another post, we do embrace mediocrity. i don't know why i'm so shocked. there's a market for american cars after all.

posted by Evan @ 11:53 AM 3 comments

second tooth

i forgot to mention that yesterday, Jackson got his second tooth. He's still under 4 months old. ouch.

posted by Evan @ 9:10 PM 0 comments

aaarrrggghhhh... bad drivers

i was almost hit by a car for the first time since i started riding my bike again over the last couple months.


i was coming out of the Walgreens parking lot from getting some pictures printed and i was turning right onto the facing street. a black toyota highlander was in the center of the driveway with the left turn signal blinking. stupid me, i actually thought they were going to turn left.


i went ahead and started to make my right turn onto the street when the lady driving the SUV quickly changes her mind and makes a right turn in front of me WITH HER LEFT BLINKER STILL ON. i skid the rear tire and quickly turn my bike to the right and hug the curb. i thought i was going to crash. she looks at me quickly and just turns her head and keeps going. thanks for checking to see if i was ok, and thanks for saying you are sorry for your lame-ass driving skills.


what really complicates getting cut off on my bike is that i have clipless pedals. my shoes are attached to the pedals. yes, i can release them fairly quickly, but it makes for one more thing to think of before my teeth get knocked out.

posted by Evan @ 9:49 AM 0 comments

manly

i told you i'm manly. well, i never really told you, but you already knew it now, didn't you?

posted by Evan @ 11:46 PM 0 comments

suburban smores

imagine it... a gas-fueled backyard campfire with marshmallows, hershey's chocolate, and graham crackers. how "Lewis Homes" of us. this is not my reality is it?

i haven't mentioned my dislike for what the Lewis' (now KB Homes) have done to our community. it hurts me deep inside.

the Lewis' started in the tract housing business cramming as many houses as close together as possible. rancho cucamonga has embraced this form of crap architecture because Orange County was successful with it. Lewis was very successful with getting "in with the city" because they eagerly donated all kinds of money to Rancho to be able to build the tracts they wanted. developers like the Lewis' make lots of cashola on these tracts because they build as cheap and as fast as possible. the homes are shit.

The Lewis' sold their home building business and went strictly commercial. KB Home bought it from the Lewis' to continue their crappy legacy. again, the city of Rancho Cucamonga embraced them. every city corner or strip mall is built by them it seems.

have you ever noticed how much f***ing pink stucco we have in this city? like i said, it hurts me deep inside. for real.

finally, i have to mention that i HATE how our culture embraces mediocrity.

rant over.

posted by Evan @ 9:55 PM 2 comments

You Know It

this post is in reply to the blog here (no, i don't have trackback, sorry):

Bob's blog - "You Know it"

which is a comment on a blog post here:

Huffington Post - Sam Harris

it sounds odd that he is feeling sorry for himself at the end. he states, "The atheist, by merely being in touch with reality, appears shamefully out of touch with the fantasy life of his neighbors." i think everyone feels out of touch with "their neighbors" somehow. boo hoo. waaaa.

this is a free country and you can think what you want. we are free beings. we need to stop looking down on other people for what their beliefs are. i'm not sure what he was trying to accomplish with his post unless it was just to vent. it's a good vent, but that's about it.

there are some great words in the comments. i really think this one nails it: "People come to this position [believing in God] through deeply personal and idiosyncratic experiences. Given how many truly wonderful people are raised into religion and feel no need to abandon it, I find no value in mockery or condescension of their positions." - Steve Talbert

posted by Evan @ 9:54 AM 0 comments

the tooth is thru

bottom center is through the gum on 10-6-05 (yesterday). the screaming has stopped for the time being.

don't get me wrong... it's not that bad. i don't mean to make it sound horrible. he's great. when he does cry, it's weird because he hardly ever does. we're spoiled i guess :)

Neighborhood #2 (Laika) from the album "Funeral" by The Arcade Fire

posted by Evan @ 6:44 PM 0 comments

teeth

Jackson is teething. yes, he's just 3.5 months old. all of our kids get their teeth early. Ethan had all of his teeth, even his 2-year molars by 11 months. Leighton had four teeth by four months, and all of his teeth by 10 months.


he is really upset a lot. he gets up quite a bit at night and he's inconsolable most of the time.


i've heard that if adults were to go through this process, they would likely commit suicide. it's really painful, and it makes one sort of crazy - just think about getting your wisdom teeth in... except all over your mouth. it's gotta suck for an innocent infant to go through this. it's called "cutting teeth" for a reason i guess.


and just so you know, its the front bottom teeth that seem to be the first ones to the finish line.



Late in the Day from the album "In It For the Money" by Supergrass

posted by Evan @ 12:13 AM 0 comments

exposed nerves

do you ever get the feeling like about a square foot of your skin has the nerve endings exposed? if something touches that area (like a chair when you sit down) it hurts really bad.

i do.

it usually happens on my legs, about every 4 or 5 months. i have no idea what causes it, and it usually goes away by the next day.

Fireworks from the album "Stampede EP (Pre-release)" by System Kid

posted by Evan @ 12:06 AM 0 comments

the name calling needs to stop

my mother in law is nuts. tonight, she called her daughter, my wife, a bitch. then she called her "Beth." Rita was having a really hard day... and then her mother goes on to top it off with that.

Beth is one of Rita's friends that has a ton of issues. One of the biggest ones is how she treats her kids, which is very badly (she has 5 kids, and getting her nails done takes priority over the kids eating sometimes). we have a verse in one of our songs about her. i'll make sure to point it out once the lyrics go up on our website. it's poetic justice, literally.

comparing Rita to Beth is a contrast like no other. it's very rude. i really don't know what to do about it. Rita always puts our kids before herself. Always.

Rita's mom often takes the stance that she is always right. even at the expense of her children, she can't be wrong - and if she is, she will not say she's sorry. As Rita was driving off, her mom was yelling at Rita's brother...the next person in the line of fire.

i'm sick of it.

posted by Evan @ 10:08 PM 0 comments