This Purina Chows sign is hanging on the side of the Museum of the San Ramon Valley on Railroad Ave. in Danville.
This Purina Chows sign is hanging on the side of the Museum of the San Ramon Valley on Railroad Ave. in Danville.
Having parked in downtown Walnut Creek for many years without getting a ticket or citation, it was finally my turn to get burned last year. At the Broadway Pointe parking garage, a free, private garage in downtown Walnut Creek managed by Park Smart / Regional Parking, there are two types of signs indicating how long one may park. One is the typical 3-Hour Limit sign. The other is a “3 hour Parking Maximum” sign. Whenever I looked at this sign I wondered what the point was. After all, if the standard 3-hour limit sign is there, then obviously the maximum is three hours, right?
One day last year, I parked in the morning to work out at Orangetheory on Locust St. and get a bowl of miso ramen at Ramen Hiroshi. In the evening, I headed back to downtown Walnut Creek for a rare night out with my wife and ended up having a great meal at Va de Vi. Unfortunately for me, I decided to park at the Broadway Pointe parking garage. As we returned to the car that evening, I saw the dreaded parking citation. I wrote back to Park Smart / Regional Parking pointing out that these were completely separate trips with several hours in-between when I was not there. The parking spots were also different. A few weeks later I heard back about the denial:
The License Plate Recognition Vehicle scanned your vehicle on two separate visits; the daily maximum of 3 hours was exceeded: no receipts from Braodwav Pointe merchants were provided for “consideration.”
What a sneaky, yet hilarious name for a cocktail lounge, “The Office”! Spotted in Concord. I can only imagine the conversations taking place based on this subterfuge.
Whenever I think I’ve seen it all, along comes the next “new” thing. I spotted this boxed water on sale at the Walnut Creek Target recently. Not only is water now being sold in milk cartons, it’s actually called, “Boxed Water is Better.”, which kind of reminds me of Abbott and Costello’s Who’s on first? routine:
Diner: I’ll have the cheeseburger please.
Waiter: And to drink?
Diner: Boxed Water is Better.
Waiter: Really? I didn’t know that! Now, what can I get you to drink?
Diner: Boxed Water is Better.
Enjoy:
Photo by Flickr user svenstorm
Did you know you can become a licensed fortune teller in Lafayette? That has to bring quite a bit of credibility! I’ve heard of licensed real estate agents, licensed contractors, licensed cosmetologists, but licensed fortune tellers?!
From the application process:
“Fortunetelling” means engaging for profit, directly or indirectly, in the act of:
(a) Foretelling, foreseeing or influencing a future act, event, condition or situation, or finding or restoring a lost or hidden thing, condition or situation, whether physical, spiritual, emotional or social;
Now that Christmas is over, let the hoverboard mania begin. Over the weekend I spotted numerous hoverboards all over downtown Walnut Creek including parks and Mt. Diablo Blvd. crosswalks. Although called hoverboards, they don’t actually hover like in Back to the Future Part II; they have two wheels on the ground and movement is controlled based on leaning motions, like a Segway without hands.
Has anyone tried a hoverboard? What do you think? I’m tempted but then I read articles like this and reconsider.
Broadway Plaza, Walnut Creek
Last November we learned that the Broadway Plaza South Broadway parking garage opened in downtown Walnut Creek and now the connected Macy’s parking garage has opened and it’s great! Finding parking in downtown Walnut Creek during Christmas season can be painful but now I generally head straight for the new Broadway Plaza garage and have always found plenty of parking so far. At least until word gets out. Shhh…
Photo via change.org
From a reader:
I’m a 20+ year resident of Pleasant Hill, a dad, husband, and soccer coach/referee. My family is helping to raise awareness about the upcoming sale of the Oak Park Elementary School Site. Contra Costa County will soon decide whether to sell it to private real estate developers, or to the Pleasant Hill Parks and Recreation Department. Parks and Rec want to develop the site as a multi-use open space, with sports fields, running trails, and as a flood basin for the area. We are encouraging the County to sell to Parks and Rec.
I started a Facebook page to raise awareness, and to encourage Contra Costa residents to sign this petition, started by another local resident.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
pleasantoakschoolsite/
Petition: https://www.change.org/p/keep-pleasant-hill-pleasant
Contra Costa Times article: http://www.contracostatimes.com/pleasant-hill/ci_29108922/ pleasant-hill-recreation- district-wants-former-school- site
Broadway Plaza, Walnut Creek
Kiehl’s and L’Occitane en Provence were both supposed to open during the Broadway Plaza “reveal” last Friday but when I dropped by on Saturday, neither of them were open and no other new stores were open either. Despite nothing being open on the newly developed side, at the time I dropped by before lunch there was a freshly laid asphalt path from Nordstrom to the soon to be opened Lululemon on the corner of the new development. There was no barrier so I strolled by slowly checking out the new stores when all of a sudden a gigantic forklift vehicle backed up and missed me by a few feet. I caught my breath and moved on to check out the new stores opening such as Kit & Ace, Madewell and Lou & Grey. (When I came back a few hours later, the path to the newly developed side was completely closed.)
On the way to downtown Walnut Creek I noticed two familiar protest signs. Construction started a long time ago so not sure why they decided to start protesting now.
