Yet Another Empty Building on Solano Street

Cannon's Emporium is no more, and now there is yet another empty building on Solano Street -- directly across the street from my office. It was sufficiently unattractive when it was occupied -- painted a depressing dark-rust color -- but it is all the more unattractive now that it is vacant. It is a very large building, this fact certainly contributing to its obvious and dismal emptiness.

A drive along the six-block business district of Solano Street gives one the impression that there are more empty buildings than occupied buildings. This may not, in fact, be the case. I have not taken the time to count and determine whether the majority are empty. It certainly does appear, however, that the majority are empty. Three other empty buildings border the empty eyesore.

Interestingly, the vast majority of empty buildings are on the opposite side of Solano Street from my office. This makes my side of the street, in general, and this block, in particular, appear thriving; it certainly makes an unattractive and depressing view from my front windows, however. For this reason, I have my Web cam pointed away from the empty buildings -- pointed toward a thriving pharmacy and busy intersection.

Sushi on a Sunny Sunday

I enjoyed an extra hour of sleep this morning, having remembered to set (at least a few of) the clocks back an hour last evening. This morning was a beautiful, warm, sunny morning that became a beautiful, warm, sunny day.

Following a spirit-filled church service at Harvest Christian Center, we shopped at Safeway. We lounged earlier and attended the late service, we were famished, and the sushi offering in the deli section called out to us.

Following the storage of our purchases, we enjoyed some ebi, California rolls, pickled ginger, soy sauce, wasabi, and California Chardonnay. The warmth provided by the sun and the gentle breeze provided by the open doors increased the pleasure of the dining.

We put a spicy dry rub on some beautiful top sirlion steaks and a marinade on some giant shrimp yesterday, and they will be going on the grill in a few minutes, along with some ears of corn. A penne salad with pesto dressing will accompany this, along with some California Merlot. Choosing a movie will follow this feast. We have a fairly large selection of DVDs we have not previously watched from which to choose.

Later: Dinner was excellent. Laura grilled, while I kept our twin male Bengal cats occupied. At one point, Zeus (my cat) became so focused upon escaping whever Laura opened the rear door to tend to the grill that it was necessary for me to lure him into the workout room with kitty treats and sequester him there until Laura completed the grilling. Thor (Laura's cat) was otherwise occupied--nibbling upon the napkins on the dining room table--until he recognized the sound of kitty treats exiting their container, at which time he quickly joined Zeus.

It has been a particularly glorious day. Hopefully, this beautiful weather will continue as predicted and provide an excellent evening for tomorrow's Harvest Festival.

Rain -and- Halloween

I awakened at 6 AM this morning to the sound of rain. It has been raining lightly all morning, although it is rather warm (68) and calm. This is the type of rain I prefer. The ground is able to absorb and use the water. The trees, flowers, and plants have the dust washed from their leaves. It is predicted that this afternoon will be warm and sunny. When this happens, everything will look clean and fresh, and the birds will sing.

This morning, a client brought her computer to my shop, saying that her daughter had been using it last evening when her anti-virus software detected but could not remove a worm. She asked me why I had Thanksgiving decorations in my store window, suggesting that Halloween decorations would be more appropriate at this time. I explained to her that Halloween is a festival that celebrates death and Satan and directed her to The History of Halloween. She was extremely interested and asked for the use of one of my high-speed wireless Internet systems so that she might read this article.

She read the article with great interest and thanked me for directing her to it. She said she intends to share it with her daughter this evening.

I recommend the article to anyone interested in learning about the history of Halloween.

Icon Wars -and- Sunshine!

Icon Wars! What your computer does when you're not looking!

The sun is shining brightly, and it is already 72 degrees at 8:31 AM! Yesterday's dreary weather has passed, and the weather is once again wonderful. I drove my Ramcharger to the smog station this morning at 7:30 AM and walked the six blocks to my office. It was a very pleasant walk.

Hopefully, this beautiful weather will last through next week as predicted. Monday evening is the annual Harvest Festival at Harvest Christian Center, and it is anticipated that over 4,000 young people will attend this event. Excellent weather would certainly be a benefit to this event!

A gentleman came to my office and inquired about a computer that his son had brought "to town" for repair. I told him that his son had not brought it here and suggested that he inquire at the only other computer store in the area. He replied, "I went there first, and they don't have it. What do I do now?" I replied, "First, you must buy a new computer. Then, you must promise yourself never to allow your son to take your car 'to town' for repair!"

Welcome to My Blog!

Welcome to my blog! I am pleased that you visited and hope that you find the experience interesting.

The issue for today is the weather: We have been enjoying beautiful weather, with afternoon temperatures in the 80s, until today. Today is chilly, windy, and damp. I realize that I should not complain--particularly given the truly horrid weather that has been visited upon other areas lately--but I shall! I truly miss the warmth of the sun and loathe wearing heavy clothing.

The weather is predicted to be warm again Friday and through the weekend and the first few days of next week. I await this with great glee.