Category: Media

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Hotel Del Christmas Tree

Yesterday, I was invited to a luncheon with a group of people celebrating the 2024 Presidential Election. Venue: the historic, stately, and expensive Hotel Del Coronado. I hadn’t been there in years—and never in December. Wow, was the place packed with revelers local and visiting, loners and families, of every fashion.

One neighbor (and good friend) and I were the spendthrifts of the group. She asked if I would want to go halvsies on a meal. That works for me. She suggested a breakfast burrito. Great choice. When the thing was served, I cut off a piece and, after nibbling a bit, decided not to eat any. The tortilla was flaky and tasty and fancily unlike any burrito I ever ate. I thought my wife would love it (she did) and a waiter boxed up the largely uneaten meal. The thing cost $23 before tax and tip, which we split.

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I Wouldn’t Live Here

On September 29, I asked: “Would You Want to Live Here?” regarding the new, ah, studio apartments converted from garages along the alley separating Alabama and Florida streets. One of the five units is still available, and it’s the lowest-cost rental here in University Heights: $1,295. Wow, what a bargain.

How much room do you need? The domicile provides a whole 180-square-feet of living space. You don’t mind sleeping on the floor, do you—or eating there—all Japanese style? But the big benefit is proximity to trash and recycle bins. You can practically open the window and drop in trash. The Featured Image shows what to expect. Don’t open the window or door. Oh, that smell!

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I Love Leica But…

Yesterday, someone bought my Leica Q2, which I acquired on Dec. 31, 2019. But my Leica journey started in May 2017 with the original Q, which I initially regretted selling. I preferred the smaller sensor (24 megapixels vs 47.3 for the successor), the look of the images produced, and the ability to switch from single to continuous shooting by flicking a switch set around the shutter button. Besides, the Q was my first Leica love—a feeling that didn’t carry forward as I had expected.

Day before yesterday, a doctor and sculptor bought Q2 Monochrom, which I acquired in December 2020. Turns out I don’t have an eye for black-and-white photography. I got good value from the camera but nowhere near what was hoped. Surely the new owners will do better.

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When You Can’t Get an AI Girlfriend

The Barber of Seville is closing up shop after 45 years of operation—more than 30 of them in downtown University Heights. George gave me a final cut this afternoon. His last customer will be a local priest, sometime on Dec. 11, 2024.

While waiting outside for my turn, I observed something, or more appropriately someone, across the street. You can judge for yourself from the Featured Image. Homelessness is a San Diego fixture, and I see street dwellers sprawled on sidewalks every day. But this gent is the first with an inflatable woman.

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The Cats of University Heights: Red

What’s that saying about when it rains, it pours? This fine feline is the first shared since Oct. 20, 2024—and an enormous backlog is in the queue. So do expect this place becoming something of a cat blog for the foreseeable future. You’ve been informed; warned, if you prefer.

For today, meet Red, who my wife and I met with his owner on Nov. 27, 2024. Before the lady moved from rental to owned home, she kept Petri, who joined the series in January 2020. Amazingly, she stayed in the neighborhood, which was no easy feat during the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 housing bubble, when local real estate prices ballooned at alarming speed.

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The Little Pecker

For about a month, I have been trying to get a good shot of a woodpecker going at one of the palms overlooking our apartment building’s parking lot. Yesterday, Cali came running from the bedroom, where she had been blissfully sleeping in sunlight, into my office. She climbed onto the desk to look out the window. To see what? I hadn’t opened up the thing, so sound penetration was minimal.

She stared out at that wily woodpecker, and I marveled at her ears, because I could see the pecking but not hear it. I pulled out Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, opened the camera app, set to 10x zoom, and shot the Featured Image through the glass (which could have been cleaner).

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Thirsty?

As the November 5th Presidential election approached, I focused on preparing for emergencies—such as protests or infrastructure attacks, regardless the winner (or loser). I stocked up medical supplies and took trauma training for massive bleeding incidents. My wife and I majorly topped off food and water supplies, while I purchased some additional items, particularly for dealing with power outages.

Water bothered me most. What if some crazy person poisoned the water supply, or there was unexpected contamination incident—such as agricultural or industrial runoff or more Mexican spillage. Yikes, cyberattack? The solution that made most sense: Water-filtration system, for purifying the liquid from almost any source.

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I Vote for a Peaceful Transition

This day last week, America voted—and the results surprised many folks. For starters, we had a decisive winner before the cock crowed on the East Coast and before the midnight oil burned here on the West. Secondly, contrary to what many pollsters forecast, the contest was nothing close to neck-and-neck. Thirdly, Donald Trump trounced Kamala Harris—in the final count taking 312 electoral votes (270 to win), capturing majority of the popular vote (50.2 percent; 75.492 million), and taking all seven swing states.

Reaction is something to see. The President-elect’s supporters are giddy as kiddies on Christmas morning. Presents are open, wrapping paper is everywhere, and Santa delivered all the goodies on the list. Elsewhere, trauma is the drama. It’s criminal that left-leaning news organizations and pollsters misled so many Democrats and other Harris supporters for so long. Their mourning wouldn’t be so severe (out of politeness, I won’t link to any reactions but you can find them easily enough on TikTok).

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Trip to Trump Country

Two days ago, my wife and I enjoyed a scenic, 56-km (36-mile) drive from San Diego to Ramona, Calif., where I underwent Stop the Bleed trauma training. In our neighborhood, Democrat-candidate-supporting signs are everywhere. We have seen one for Trump, inside a window where no one could tear it away.

But we saw several banners—one hoisted high above the highway—along the route to Ramona and an actual Trump Store on Main Street. Say what? Someone would either graffiti or torch the place if located in the Hillcrest-North Park-University Heights area. Around where we live, people who can’t stop talking about inclusion and tolerance are quick to exclude and exude intolerance towards Donald Trump, his MAGA-movement, and anything or anyone Republican.

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Stop the Bleed

This morning, we drove 56 km (35 miles) to Ramona, where I received trauma training meant to Stop the Bleed when injury severs an artery. The official, instructor-led class lasted about 90 minutes. Kit Fox Outfitters’ co-owner provided hands-on learning as part of the curriculum.

I will practice the techniques taught today so that they become muscle memory. Familiarity could make the difference between life and death in the event of a bleeding emergency, where seconds matter and being flustered and slow-moving is unacceptable. Practice makes perfect, as they say.

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Ten Years of Cali

On my twin sisters’ birthday, we pause for another commemoration—this one belated. A decade ago, on Oct. 20, 2014, we inherited Cali. I first met the tortoiseshell across the street from my daughter’s shared college residence on June 4 of that year. The kitten would crawl into our adult child’s bed later that night and come to be contested among coeds living in several houses. None of the women properly cared for the cat, but all of them claimed her.

After some pushing and pulling—with some women moving away and leaving Cali behind—she would become our daughter’s pet. But short-lived. School started and one of the students turned out to be allergic to cats. And so, the skinny, underfed, undernourished Cali came to live with my wife and me.

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The Cats of University Heights: Gummy

Not only is the backlog of kitties backed up, but I ignored the series‘ eighth anniversary on October 17. Yeah, 2016. I started a few months after undergoing eye surgery for one ailment, while still being treated for another. Cat photography presented opportunity to break in my ocular implants and to improve sense of composition (okay, so the latter is awash).

This fine feline is the five-hundred-ninety-third profile and one-hundred-thirty-fourth found behind door or window. I used Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra to capture the Featured Image, on Sept. 10, 2024. Vitals: f/3.4, ISO 32, 1/160 sec, (synthetic) 230mm (digital and optical zoom); 8:22 a.m. PDT. Nickname: Gummy. Because, why not?