Webs’ Random Ideas

I’ve written a couple posts about our Cali trip and would like to discuss a fun event my wife and I attended.

We came into LA New Years day kinda late, around 8:30P Pacific time as we had to drive from Monterey down Highway 1. I think it takes close to 6 hours to drive and we stopped at a few places along the way to enjoy the trip and scenery. But despite this we were troopers and stayed up, not just for our home town New Years, but for the West Coast one too!

In LA we were staying with my uncle. He’s a radiologist so his hours can be funky, but we were able to hang with him New Years night and the following day. My uncle is a lot of fun and usually has some great stories about us kids and my family, as well as my parents in their younger years. But when we came into town the priority was to eat some food and then go to a party.

We met my Uncle’s friend and the gorgeous neighborhood he lives in after dinner and then walked to the party. Once we got to the party my Wife and I grabbed a couple hor’dourves. We then found some folks sitting at a table chatting and my Uncle’s friend was sitting at that table too. Perfect! Someone we sorta new, or at least had a connection too.

Once situated we were introduced to the other four gentlemen at the table. After chatting for a little bit I scanned the party. My wife was the only female. I sort of expected what we were going to, but didn’t really pay much attention. I can be very oblivious to my surroundings at times… But I didn’t really care as I was enjoying myself and my wife seemed to be too. That and I really do not care about the sexual orientation of others.

After a few minutes it became apparent that many of those at this party were in fact in homosexual relationships. I think I was having too good of a time to really become aware without having a moment to think about it. But when I did think about it, this party was not any different than most other New Years eve parties that people around the world went too.

When you break it down it was people exchanging stories and having a good time. I wish those that voted “Yes” on Prop 8 and those that are against rights for homosexuals could have been at that party. Because really I think it would have been tough to look at these individuals any other way than as another human being.

My wife and I really enjoyed the time we spent with my uncle. We love him very much and wish the best for him.

My wife and I made a trip out to California to visit my brother, and then drive down to LA to visit my uncle. It was a great trip filled with surprises, beauty, and relaxation. I still hope to have pictures soon, but this may take some time. I plan to have them all on Picasa though and will update when I can.

On the way to Monterey from Sacramento we stopped at Silicon Valley or San Jose. I just had to see Google headquarters. I must say it was absolutely amazing. It was one of the more impressive corporate headquarters I have seen. The campus is huge, the buildings are gorgeous, and it’s in California so the vegetation is bright and beautiful.

From Monterey we headed to LA and drove along the infamous Highway 1. Heading South on Highway 1 is quite an amazing journey because you travel along the edge of a mountain with small railings between you and very substantial drop offs. The views are hard to describe other than breath taking and scary too (if you have a fear of heights) as at one point we were looking down on some clouds over the ocean we were so high up.

We were driving along on highway 1 and the whole time I was thinking, “Hmmm, this aint so bad. The height thing shouldn’t be that big of a deal.” I asked my wife how she was doing and she was fine, just enjoying the amazing views I couldn’t see being I was the driver. We then came into a flat plane area and were just about even with the ocean in terms of elevation. I said, “Ah, finally! I can handle this.” Of course after that statement we went inland and began to climb.

And for a long time we didn’t stop climbing. In fact once we got out of the inland area we had only climbed a couple hundred feet and had a long way to go. We just kept climbing and the height was really insane. My guess as to how high we were at one point was 1000 ft. Sure enough I was pretty accurate on my guess.

You might think, “Meh! 1000ft aint much.” I would agree, but 1000 feet nearly straight down and with only a foot away from the edge of the car at one point is much. I’ll admit it was a blast though and I highly recommend the route to everyone. The best part about it is you are not only rewarded with views and a fun drive, but with a must see excursion, the Hearst Castle.

Imagine you have hundreds of millions of dollars, are a son of extremely rich parents that own over 200,000 acres in California, and you have a dream to build on top of a hill in your family’s land. This is the formula for such a thing as the Hearst Castle. I won’t say too much other than it’s really cool and shows how much fun a designer can have with a nearly unlimited budget.

In LA we did the usual touristy things people do. We saw the main sites of Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, Santa Monica Boulevard, Rodeo Drive, Malibu, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood Stars, and Sunset Boulevard. But we did a few other “off the beaten trail” things like the Griffith Park Observatory.

The observatory was really cool. It was recently re-done and the new work shows. The exhibits on the main floor were interesting and informative. I kept seeing kids run between them waiting for the next bit of information. If only school could somehow invigorate children like this. It was funny, we went there at night and there were exhibits that allowed you to look at the sun. We kept pushing the button but nothing happened. Then we read the sign there has to be sunlight to see the sun. Duh!!

On the lower floor were some other exhibits as well as a printed version of the night sky you could look at with telescopes. It was kinda cool. Then they had the doomsday exhibit. You could change about 6 different variables of a meteor and then see what happens when you crash it into Earth or 4 other planets. I wish we had more time to play in this area, but our planetarium show was starting soon.

The planetarium show was really well done too. It was informative for all ages, as well as interesting for adults and kids. We learned about the history of discovery, we learned a few constellations (I was glad they finally made fun of how those constellations are chosen like a bear that without their graphic over-lay on top of, you would never know was a bear) and we learned about the scope and size of the universe.

After the show we went back outside and tried to look out their two huge telescopes in the domes on either side, but the place was closing. Outside on the terrace they had smaller telescopes (well smaller compared to the domes, but still friggin huge) that were pointed in various places. So we were stuck with some smaller glimpses of the sky and the amazing views from the observatory that sits on top of the hills in Griffith Park. ;-p

Then it was off to bed to get ready for our last day in LA and a plane flight from LAX to Midway.

Despite all we saw I made sure to take note of the little differences between a liberal progressive mecca like California and little ol’ IL. One thing we saw a lot of, especially in So Cal, was solar power electric car charging stations. Super cool and it makes me glad to see some people are starting to create the infrastructure our society desperately needs for electric cars.

I was walking into a Walgreens in the San Jose area and on my way in I saw a bicycle parked inside the store. It was a bike from a customer and it was placed in an area that was out of the way of customers walking in and it didn’t block merchandise. It was almost as if Walgreens had this area set aside for such a thing. Which leads me to my other difference, biker friendliness. Every single town we drove through small and big (yes even LA) had biker friendliness. Not just with actual lanes but with signs that reminded auto drivers who else is on the road. But you could also see a difference in the reaction of drivers to bicycles.

In that same Walgreens I also happened to pass by a lady who was walking her dog through an isle. Which didn’t seem strange to anyone else but me. Apparently this is normal as Google allows employees to bring pets into work with them.

Another difference, this one very obvious, is the weather. It was never cooler than 30 degrees the whole time we were out there, and that 30 degrees only came at night. In LA on our second to last day it was a stunning 75. We got a little lucky!

I left yesterday to visit my brother in Sacramento, CA and eventually my uncle in LA. The idea was to fly into Sacramento, stay with my brother then rent a car and drive down to LA. We found out quickly that Enterprise is the cheapest for renting cars for 1 way, and you can only rent cars for one way trips from airports.

So far California is beautiful. The thought of having a back yard in California with multiple fruit trees, 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 grapefruit, 1 pomegranate, and 1 avocado really just makes me giddy. It’s damn near impossible to do that in the midwest. Plus the weather is nice nearly all year long. We’ve been told that it really only gets cold from November to February, but cold is relative when you come from the Quad Cities in IL.

Sacramento airport is really cool, from the sense that I have never flew into or out of a Californian airport. I’m not used to landing and then walking out of the gate to see a row of palm trees. Super fun! Unfortunately our flight was at night so there wasn’t much to see when looking out the plane, but this trip is going to be a lot of new stuff for me, so it’s all pretty cool.

I will write more and have pictures later…

… and for a darn good reason too!

As promised, “California sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday for denying its first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas limits on cars, trucks and SUVs.” At least fifteen states will support California in the lawsuit, including 13 of those that have either adopted or are in the process of adopting the rules.

Good for them I say and the 13 other states! It’s about time someone stepped up to Bush’s cronies, or for that matter showed an interest in caring about the environment. Most of what Bush has done (which is actually nothing up to this point) and talked about doing has gone from denial, to making sure the science is correct (another form of denial) to accepting the science is correct… but still doing nothing… Yes it is confusing. How you can see Global Warming as a problem and accept the science that shows it, and yet do nothing is beyond me?

It’s obvious Bush has not yet seen any real evidence for Global Warming. If he has, he would know most of this already. Global Warming is a serious issue that needs immediate attention.

It also appears this Cali lawsuit isn’t the only thing the head of the EPA should be worried about…

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by California democrat Henry Waxman — a prominent critic of industry influence on the Bush administration’s science policies — has launched an investigation into the EPA’s rejection of California’s attempt to reduce automotive greenhouse gas emissions.

Good Ol’ Waxman is on the hunt to get to the bottom of things. If you missed the whole issue of why Cali is suing, read this LA Times article.

The Bush administration Wednesday denied California’s bid to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, dealing a blow to the state’s attempts to combat global warming and prompting an immediate vow from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to take the decision to court.

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Stephen L. Johnson denied the state’s request to implement its own landmark law, noting that an energy bill signed by President Bush earlier in the day would go a long way toward reducing emissions throughout the United States. The bill provides the most significant increase in vehicle fuel economy standards in more than three decades.

Basically the Bush Girly-men are trumping state rights by saying Cali has no right to set their own limits, look at the bold section right above to see the EPAs argument. WTF kind of reason is that?!?! It makes no difference how good the Federal bill is. If a state wants to set their own limits on top of the Feds, it’s their decision. As the Governator states:

It is unconscionable that the federal government is keeping California and nineteen other states from adopting these standards. They are ignoring the will of millions of people who want their government to take action in the fight against global warming. That’s why, at the very first legal opportunity, we’re suing to reverse the US EPA’s wrong decision. California has always been a leader in protecting the environment, and we will do everything in our power to continue that proud tradition.

Well just chalk “State’s Rights” up on the chalkboard of what makes Bush the worst president in history… oh wait. We already have chalked that one up.