Fluid Flow

VTA ‘can’t afford’ full transit-project list: “With money running short and critical decisions looming on the future of transit in Santa Clara County, local leaders are considering ominous possibilities: Eliminating a planned light-rail extension into East San Jose, building the BART extension to the South Bay in phases rather than all”

(Via Local News — MercuryNews.com.)

Now there is a surprise, after VTA and the Mercury News oversold BART to San Jose, VTA finds that they can’t pay for it and all of the other transit projects they promised. This is what we were telling them from the start.

If you drop the stupid BART to San Jose proposal then money is available and things become possible. And who knows one of these years there might be “Traffic Relief”.

Lassen in Monterey

Lassen came down the stairs with his collar in his mouth. He dropped it at my feet and waited until I put it back on.

I am guessing that he is the one who found and brought back Tehama’s collar.

Did I say these cats are good!

While in Monterey, I have been using two monitors off my laptop. It is the first time that I have really worked with two monitors and I’ve had my ups and downs with it. The biggest down however has been Spaces.

For far too many times, I have tried to switch to another application and ended up with a blank screen. Or even worse, ended up with the correct application in front, but the window I want is hidden somewhere and won’t come forward.

So now Spaces is turned off. My desktop is cluttered with windows. And I am surviving.

Three of the four Peregrine Falcon eggs hatched overnight at San Jose City Hall. Mom has already caught a pigeon for breakfast.

You can watch all the action at the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group’s falcon cam.

Oh and we managed to scoop the Mercury News with the story.

Red-shouldered hawk and crow

I got a few more pictures of the hawks that are flying around my folks house. As I described in a previous post, from below, they look and sound like cooper’s hawks.

But sitting in trees and in flight at eye level it is now clear that they are red-shouldered hawks. Cool, another bird to add to my life list.

On the other hand, I need to apologize for my previous post and point out that I was wrong and the other birders were right. Good job guys, now that I look at my photos of the birds in flight, I can see some subtle differences that I missed before. The wings are more pointed than a Cooper’s Hawk and they have a bend to them. Still in some views they really look like Cooper’s hawks. Oh well.

Yes, once every two years you must get a smog check in order to renew your auto registration. Not really a big deal unless you are traveling, drive an older car/truck, and wait until the last minute.

Why should this matter, well older cars/trucks like my 92 Toyota 4runner that are registered in certain counties, like Santa Clara are required to get a smog check at a test only facility (where they just do smog checks). Now if you find yourself in Monterey County a day before your registration is due, you start searching for test only facilities. Of course, there aren’t any because Monterey County isn’t one of those that requires cars to get checked at a test only facility. So, I have to make a trip back to Santa Clara County to get a smog check done on my truck. And this makes sense, how…

Fortunately, the State is bright enough to allow you to file an incomplete registration. So I filed my registration and can complete it after I return to San Jose and get my smog check done at a test only facility (without incurring penalties or late fees).

But still you would think that in a state with as many people as California has, there would be a single standard for smog checks. To have different standards for counties that are separated by 40 miles is just silly.

So I am dog sitting in Monterey this month, but I brought three cats with me. Seems that I can’t go anywhere these days with out a few cats. The cats have settled into the new digs quickly. Lassen and Tehama are asleep under the table where I have my computer. Humboldt has found that climbing under my sleeping bag affords a warm, quiet place to rest.

We haven’t been without little panics. Lassen got out on Sunday, but allowed me to grab him. Tehama bolted out a door this morning, but was crying to get back in after 15 minutes of exploration. Enough excitement for one day.

Fluid Flow is back and rebuilt for the most part. I am missing posts from mid Feburary to mid March. Specifically my post on the City Hall Peregrines is AWOL. I should still be able to rebuild these with a little extra work. Also missing are comments made to posts since January. But there was only one post in that time with meaningful comments, so I can live with losing them.

I learned an important lesson here, one that I should have know from ages ago, but…

Don’t expect your upgrades to go as planned and make sure that everything important is backed up before you upgrade.

Thank You - Retreat Info - Animals:

Animals and children keep us honest at church. Or perhaps I should say they do not let us forget who we are, nor nature of the world we occupy. There are lots of critters around our church, being in the woods as we are. Their behavior may or may not be convenient to us.

Buzzard on the Sign

Yes, nothing says welcome to our church quite like a buzzard hanging over the church sign on a Sunday morning. The picture is rather blurry. It was taken at a distance. Buzzards are extremely skittish, and it’s hard to get close to them. I’ve decided to call this particular buzzard Tertullian. Not that I can pick him out of a crowd fluttering around a carcass.

I did notice attendance was very low on that Sunday. Do you think there might be a connection?

(Via Real Live Preacher.)

Yet another reason to read Real Live Preacher. Of course, if I saw a vulture hanging out on a church sign on Sunday morning, I’d be more inclined to check out the service.

A potentially costly latte for unlucky BART users: Peet’s Coffee & Tea will open kiosks at eight BART stations, but if you drink that cup of java on the train, it could end up costing you $250.

(Via Mercury News.)

Supposedly BART is this wonderful state-of-the-art transit system. Yet, it doesn’t allow you to eat or drink on board for the hour plus ride to San Francisco. It doesn’t have on board restrooms. In reality, BART is 50 year old technology that looks somewhat cool.

In contrast, Caltrain has restrooms, allows you to eat and drink on board and can get you to San Francisco in about the same time as BART can (from the south bay). Caltrain offers newer equipment, better support for bicycles and can be upgraded at a much less expence than BART upgrades.

So, why the love affair with BART. I really don’t know. Bright people who should know better, describe BART as the only thing for San Jose. It boggles my mind.